Over 25 studies at ASCO tied GLP-1 drugs to lower cancer risk and better survival
A growing body of research suggests GLP-1 medications may cut the risk of certain cancers by up to 50 percent, reduce addiction, and lower the odds of developing Alzheimer's.
The findings point to health benefits well beyond the weight loss and diabetes treatment the drugs were designed for.
More than two dozen studies presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago found that patients taking GLP-1 drugs showed lower cancer risk and less disease progression compared with non-users, Reuters reported.
Those patients also showed better survival rates.
A study of more than 12,000 patients found those taking GLP-1s were 38 to 50 percent less likely to see lung, breast, colorectal, and liver cancers advance to metastatic disease than patients on gliptins, a different class of diabetes drug.
A separate analysis of patients at US community oncology practices found roughly a one-third reduction in the risk of death across six tumour types, according to Reuters.
Elizabeth Susan McDonald of the University of Pennsylvania reported on a study of 110,000 women showing those who took GLP-1 medications were up to 35 percent less likely to develop breast cancer.
Researchers believe the drugs' anti-inflammatory effects, regulation of insulin signalling, and possible direct engagement with tumour biology may explain the protective effect, though the studies were not designed to establish causation.
The cancer findings sit alongside a broader picture of systemic benefits.
Daniel Drucker, a clinician-scientist and professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, told CTV News' Your Morning that early studies show GLP-1 drugs reduce heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, arthritis, and peripheral artery disease.
Drucker also said the drugs appear to affect the brain, noting that people "struggling with alcohol, smoking, opioids, cannabinoids or even compulsive behaviors, it seems to take down some of the pleasure associated with these activities."
Data also suggests GLP-1 drugs might help prevent Alzheimer's development, though two large trials in patients with established disease showed no benefit, prompting researchers to shift focus to earlier intervention, Drucker told CTV News.
Researchers cautioned that nearly all ASCO data came from observational studies, raising the risk of confounding factors such as differences in overall health, access to care, and concurrent treatments among GLP-1 users, Reuters noted.
None of the studies can prove the drugs improve cancer outcomes, and experts said prospective randomised trials are needed.
"What's new here is the consistency across tumor types, and data this large and this consistent warrant a prospective randomized trial," Marcin Chwistek of the Fox Chase Cancer Center said at an ASCO press briefing, as reported by Reuters.
