Weight loss drugs slash risk of 4 types of cancer by 50% or more, study finds - AOL.com

- The use of GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss has been increasing.

- Researchers continue to examine how GLP-1s might affect a person’s health beyond type 2 diabetes management and weight loss.

- A new study found a potential link between taking GLP-1 medications and a decrease in the overall risk of developing obesity-related cancers in people without diabetes.

The use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medications continues to rise, with a 155% increase in the percentage of people with type 2 diabetes taking these drugs from 2018 to 2022.

The use of GLP-1s for weight loss is also increasing. The latest polls report that of the one in eight Americans who have taken a GLP-1 medication, about 38% have only taken them to help lose weight.

As interest in GLP-1s continues to grow, researchers are beginning to examine how these medications might affect a person’s health beyond diabetes management and weight loss.

“Hundreds of millions of people are taking or will soon take GLP-1 medications for the treatment of obesity and diabetes,” Aparna Kamat, MD, director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Houston Methodist Hospital, told Medical News Today.

“That scale means even an unexpected benefit, or an unexpected harm, becomes a public health event. We have an obligation to understand the full biology of these drugs, not just the intended effect. Identifying additional benefits could help us understand the biological pathways influenced by these drugs and uncover new opportunities for disease prevention and treatment, including cancer prevention.” — Aparna Kamat, MD

Kamat is the senior author of a new study published in the journal Annals of Oncology that found a potential link between taking GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro, and a decrease in the overall risk of developing obesity-related cancers in people without diabetes.

GLP-1 users: Those with diabetes vs. those with obesity

For this study, researchers analyzed the health data from a national database of more than 229,000 obese, non-diabetic people.

“Most previous studies examining GLP-1 medications and cancer risk were conducted in patients with type 2 diabetes,” Kamat explained.

“However, the majority of individuals now receiving GLP-1 medications are using them for obesity management and do not have diabetes. This is the population that has been invisible in the literature, and it is now the largest group using these drugs. They are younger, they don’t have diabetes, and they are experiencing some of the sharpest increases in obesity-associated cancers we’ve seen in decades,” she said.

Researchers have linked 13 cancers to obesity, including:

- Breast

- Colorectal

- Endometrial

- Esophageal

- Gallbladder

- Kidney

- Liver

- Meningioma (a type of brain tumor)

- Multiple myeloma (a type of bone marrow cancer)

- Ovarian

- Pancreatic

- Stomach (gastric)

- Thyroid

GLP-1 use linked to 41% lower overall obesity-related cancer risk

Between December 2014 and June 2025, 38% of study participants received a GLP-1 prescription, and the remaining 62% received diet and exercise counseling.

At the study’s conclusion, researchers found that participants who took GLP-1 medications containing semaglutide or tirzepatide had a 41% decrease in their overall risk of developing an obesity-related cancer.

“A 41% reduction across more than 229,000 patients is not a small signal,” Kamat said. “That is the kind of number that, in any other context, would already be driving clinical guidelines.”

Kamat and her team found even higher cancer risk reductions in specific cancers, including a 58% lower risk of endometrial cancer.

“Endometrial cancer is rising fastest in younger women, it is tightly linked to obesity, and we have almost nothing to offer for prevention,” Kamat explained. “A 58% reduction is extraordinary. If that holds up in prospective studies, it changes how we think about this disease entirely, and this finding provides a strong rationale for further mechanistic and clinical studies focused on endometrial cancer prevention and treatment.”

The most dramatic drops in risk, where this reduction was by 50% or more, also occurred in multiple myeloma, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer, in addition to endometrial cancer.