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Cancer research

Weight-Loss Jabs Could Cut Cancer Risk by Almost 50%, Study Suggests

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Researchers analysing health records of over 6,000 obese patients with Type 2 diabetes found that a class of GLP-1 medications, which cause weight loss, cut the risk of cancer by almost 50%. The analysis, presented at the European Congress of Obesity in Malaga, involved the first generation of GLP-1 receptor agonists, which were developed to treat diabetes. The results suggest that weight-loss jabs may be an even more effective way to prevent cancer than bariatric surgery, which cuts the risk of obesity-related cancer by up to 42 per cent.

Key Takeaways:

  • Researchers found that GLP-1 medications cut the risk of cancer by almost 50%, compared to bariatric surgery which reduces the risk by up to 42 per cent.
  • The analysis involved over 6,000 obese patients with Type 2 diabetes, half of whom were given bariatric surgery and the others were prescribed GLP-1 medications.
  • Dr Yael Wolff Sagy, of Clalit Health Services in Tel Aviv, Israel, believes that weight-loss jabs could be used to prevent cancer in people who are not obese but have other risk factors.
  • The medications may have an anti-inflammatory effect, which could help to prevent cancer, according to Prof Dror Dicker, of Hasharon Hospital Rabin Medical Centre in Israel.
  • Separate research found that a weight-loss jab nicknamed "King Kong" resulted in patients losing around 50 per cent more weight than those on Wegovy.

Statistics:

  • 40 per cent of all cancer cases are linked to obesity.
  • 30 types of cancer are associated with excess weight.
  • Bariatric surgery cuts the risk of obesity-related cancer by up to 42 per cent.
  • GLP-1 medications cut the risk of cancer by almost 50 per cent.
  • 15 to 20 per cent of body weight is lost by patients on weight-loss jabs.
  • One in two people in the UK are forecast to get cancer in their lifetimes.

Sources:

  • Laura Donnelly, Health Editor (no publication date)
  • European Congress of Obesity in Malaga (no publication date)
  • eClinicalMedicine (no publication date)
  • New England Journal of Medicine (no publication date)
  • Clalit Health Services in Tel Aviv, Israel (no publication date)
  • Hasharon Hospital Rabin Medical Centre in Israel (no publication date)
  • University of Manchester (no publication date)

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