Being overweight is a known risk factor for the disease (Image: Getty)
Overweight women on weight loss jabs are 30% less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those not using the drugs, research has found. Being overweight or obese, particularly after menopause, is a known risk factor for the disease. Study leader Dr Elizabeth McDonald, a professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania, said the findings “add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that it’s worth investigating these weight-loss drugs as potential cancer prevention tools.”
The study analysed data from more than 110,000 women aged between 45 and 90 with a BMI in the overweight category. Some 15,254 were using GLP-1 medications. Experts have long suspected that inflammation plays a role in breast cancer development.
One theory is that weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro reduce systemic inflammation, while also having other metabolic effects that could stifle tumour growth.
Dr McDonald stressed that the study was observational and could not prove that the drugs prevented cancer.
She added: “GLP-1 medications are intriguing from a cancer research perspective because they weren’t designed for cancer therapy, but they do affect many different targets and pathways associated with cancer development so we’re eager to study them in this context.
“Ultimately, we want to find better options to prevent breast cancer. It’s been encouraging to see the survival rates for breast cancer improve over recent decades, and we’d love to see the same gains in prevention.”
The results was part of a raft of research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) annual conference which suggested weight loss jabs could have beneficial effects in cancer medicine.
One study of 12,000 people found that GLP-1s appeared to reduce the risk of lung, breast, colorectal and liver cancer progressing to the most deadly stage (four) by up to 50%.
Low grade inflammation may play a role in breast cancer (Image: Getty)
Other research linked the jab to a lower risk of death for breast cancer patients, and found they may have a protective effect against pancreatic and lung cancer in high-risk patients.
ASCO breast cancer expert Dr Eleonora Teplinsky called for trials to better understand the apparent anti-cancer effects of GLP-1 drugs.
She said: “There’s clearly a better signal than we had years ago and we’re moving quickly but we’re not yet at the point where we can make broad statements like: ‘GLP-1s definitively reduce risk and you should be on one’.
“I think we need to pivot to more prospective studies, putting patients on them and seeing what happens to their risk of recurrence and disease progression.
“I would urge patients, if you’re eligible to sign up for a trial because that’s the only way we’re going to answer that question.”
Weight loss jabs are a “very hot topic” at the conference, which is attended by 40,000 cancer experts from around the globe, Dr Teplinsky added.
She said: “There are a lot of GLP-1 abstracts at this conference and it is really exponentially climbing up. Up until a year ago there was very, very little. This is a very hot topic right now. Hopefully we will capitalise on this.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
