Weight loss jabs could reduce risk of 14 types of cancer, study finds

23 May 2025, 18:43

Weight loss jabs could reduce the risk of up to 14 types of cancer, new research has found.

Mounjaro, Ozempic and other weight-loss injections have become more frequently used in tackling obesity, but have also been linked to other health benefits, such as reducing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease.

Scientists have now discovered the drugs could also reduce the risk of several weight-related cancers including hard to diagnose types such as pancreatic, kidney and ovarian.

American scientists, who carried out the trial, said the findings show the drugs “might have a preventative effect” for people with obesity.

Lucas Mavromatis, an expert in obesity at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York and study lead author, said: “Although obesity is now recognized as an increasingly important cause of cancer in the United States and worldwide, no medications have been proven to lower the cancer risk associated with obesity.

“Our study begins to fill that gap by evaluating GLP-1 receptor agonists, a relatively new but widely prescribed medication that treats diabetes, obesity, and related conditions.

“Our results suggest they may modestly cut the chance of developing certain cancers—especially cancers of the colon and rectum—and reduce rates of death due to all causes.

“These data are reassuring, but more studies are required to prove causation.”

The research found the jabs were most effective at reducing the risk of colon and rectal cancers specifically.

Both have seen a rise in cases in under 50s in recent years.

Researchers didn't speculate why the drugs might lower a patient's chances of cancer, and cautioned further research was necessary to confirm their findings.

In the study, researchers studied data from more than 170,000 obese patients with diabetes, aged 57 on average.

Over a follow-up of a decade, they compared the cancer risk among patients on GLP-1 agonists against those on DPP-4 inhibitors, another diabetes medication.

The 14 cancers assessed included oesophageal, colon, rectum, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, kidney, post-menopausal breast, Ovarian, endometrium and thyroid, as well as multiple myeloma and meningiomas.

The study found those on GLP-1s had a 7 per cent lower risk of developing an obesity-related cancer than patients on DPP-4 inhibitors.

When other health benefits were factored in, these patients were also 8 per cent less likely to die over the 10-year period.

Overall the biggest reduction was seen for colon (16 per cent) and rectal (28 per cent) cancers.

The findings will be presented in full next week at the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago.

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Dr Robin Zon, ASCO president, said: “This trial raises an intriguing hypothesis: that the increasingly popular GLP-1 medications used to treat diabetes and obesity might offer some benefit in reducing the risk of developing cancer.

“I see many patients with obesity, and given the clear link between cancer and obesity, defining the clinical role of GLP-1 medications in cancer prevention is important. “Though this trial does not establish causation, it hints that these drugs might have a preventative effect.

“Future research is needed to validate these findings, including in patients who do not have diabetes.”

The medication was originally developed as a diabetes treatment, but in recent years has  become one of the world's most in-demand weight-loss drugs.