Drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound have transformed treatment for obesity and diabetes. Now researchers are excited about their potential impact on other conditions, including addiction and sleep apnea — and even cancer. Scientists see this class of drugs, called GLP-1 agonists, as a breakthrough because of how they act on the brain to regulate the body’s hormones, slow digestion, and tamp down hunger.
And in several recent studies, they show early promise in preventing many common cancers — including breast, colon, liver, and ovarian — known to be driven by obesity and excess weight. “It's a hopeful story, which is, frankly, what people need,” says Arif Kamal, an oncologist specializing in breast cancer as well as chief patient officer at the American Cancer Society. Though research on GLP-1 drugs is still in its relative infancy, so far studies fairly consistently show their benefit in staving off certain cancers.
One research letter published in JAMA Oncology last year, for example, suggests GLP-1 drugs might reduce the risk of colon cancer , even among people who are not overweight. A more recent analysis in JAMA Network Open suggests GLP-1s provide far more protection against cancer for diabetic patients than insulin treatments. Another recent study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncologists meeting in June, showed both bariatric surgery and GLP-1 medications dramatically reduce the risk of the 13 obesity-related cancers .
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