Ozempic’s Surprise Side Effect? Maybe Surviving Cancer

Ozempic, the cancer buster? Research out this week indicates that GLP-1 drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity might also have cancer-fighting benefits.

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, examined the medical records of people diagnosed with colorectal cancer. People who were taking a GLP-1 medication were half as likely to die over a five-year span than those not taking a GLP-1, they found. Though the significance of these findings is still unclear, the researchers are calling for trials to evaluate if GLP-1 can protect people from cancer death.

Ozempic benefits

The most effective weight loss drugs today, such as semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy), mimic the hormone GLP-1, which helps regulate our hunger and blood sugar. But scientists are learning that the benefits of GLP-1s often extend beyond weight loss. These drugs can also reduce people’s risk of obesity-related conditions like heart disease, for instance.

Another condition strongly linked to obesity is colorectal cancer. People with obesity are more likely to develop it—and more likely to die from it once diagnosed—than people without obesity. So it’s certainly worthwhile to study whether GLP-1 treatment could have any effect on these outcomes.

This latest research, published Tuesday in Cancer Investigation, analyzed data from nearly 6,000 colorectal cancer patients who received care from one of the major medical centers affiliated with the University of California system.

Overall, 15.7% of people who were prescribed GLP-1s had died over a five-year period, compared to 37.1% of non-GLP-1 users. And even after adjusting for factors like body mass index, age, and cancer severity, GLP-1 use was still associated with greater odds of survival. That said, the largest potential benefits of reduced death were seen in people who initially had severe obesity (a BMI over 35).

A protective effect?

The study is observational, meaning it can only illustrate a correlation between GLP-1 use and reduced cancer deaths, not a cause-and-effect link. There’s also the lingering question of exactly how these drugs might work to prevent cancer deaths.

Some of this benefit may indirectly come from the weight loss or improved blood sugar control that people typically experience on GLP-1s. Yet some early studies in the lab have also suggested that GLP-1s can directly prevent the growth of cancer cells or change the environment of tumors in a positive way, the researchers note.

Given the dramatic reduction in deaths seen in this study, it’s certainly worth investigating the cancer-fighting potential of these drugs even further. Ideally, that will mean large randomized trials testing whether GLP-1s can improve people’s cancer outcomes, particularly from obesity-related cancers like colorectal cancer.

Related: Ozempic and Other GLP-1 Drugs May Cut Cancer Risk