Patients taking Ozempic for Type 2 diabetes management developed fewer obesity-related cancers than patients on insulin alone, according to theOzempic, along with the newer drugs Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound, all belong to the GLP-1 drug class. These have shown dramatic progress in reducing the side effects of obesity, including
Researchers used the electronic health records for more than 1.6 million Type 2 diabetes patients for a 15 year period ending in 2018. They found patients on GLP-1 had a significant risk reduction for 10 of 13 tested obesity associated cancers. The newer drug, however, performed equally as well as the older diabetes medication metformin. The study also found that patients on GLP-1s may have a slightly elevated risk of kidney cancer compared to metformin.
Excessive body fat increases the risk of developing a variety of cancers that make up 40% of all cancer diagnoses in the United States, according to the Body changes due to obesity and being overweight, including long-term inflammation and higher insulin levels, are thought to be related to colorectal, gallbladder, liver, and pancreatic–all of which were significantly reduced by GLP-1s in the new study.