A major new study has discovered a link between GLP-1 agonists, a medication used for weight loss and diabetes management, and lower rates of breast cancer diagnosis. The researchers hope this could unveil the start of a new type of prevention strategy for breast cancer.
The analysis looked at over 110,000 overweight or obese women between the ages of 45 and 80. The published results showed that women who were taking GLP-1 medications were around 30% less likely to develop breast cancer. Researchers highlighted that this was just an ‘observational’ study, meaning it can’t definitively confirm that the drugs alone are what is causing this decreased risk of breast cancer.
However, a few other studies have also noted a similar reaction between the drugs and cancer risk. Elizabeth McDonald, a professor of radiology in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine explained how it could be an exciting new pathway for researching a cancer prevention method.
She said: “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.
“While our study was observational and does not definitively confirm an association between GLP-1 medications and reduced breast cancer incidence, it does add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that it’s worth investigating these weight-loss drugs as potential cancer prevention tools.”
A number of lifestyle factors can impact a person’s risk of breast cancer. One of these is being overweight or obese, which can increase the risk of developing this disease.
Experts believe that because GLP-1 drugs help with weight loss and metabolic health, this could be triggering a domino effect, leading to a decreased risk of breast cancer.
According to Cancer Research UK, nearly 60,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year and around 11,200 deaths from the disease are reported each year. The charity also notes that around 23% of breast cancer cases could be preventable through avoidable lifestyle factors.
Some other avoidable lifestyle factors include smoking, which has a small increased risk of breast cancer. Drinking alcohol also increases the risk of breast cancer with each extra unit of alcohol per day.
Women taking certain medications like the contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy also face an elevated risk of breast cancer.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
