OZEMPIC-like drugs may reduce risk of one of deadliest types of cancers rising in young people, study finds

Drugs like Ozempic may prevent a deadly cancer rising in young people, a major study indicates.

Researchers looked at medical records of more than 1.2million Americans with type 2 diabetes who were aged between x and y over a xyear-long period.

They found that people who took GLP-1 receptor agonists drugs, the family which Ozempic and Wegovy belong to, had an 44 percent lower risk of getting colorectal cancer compared to diabetics treated with insulin.

The protective effects of the medicines were evident in people with and without obesity, according to what the doctors say is a ‘critically important’ discovery.

Colorectal cancer rates in young people are expected to double by 2030 and, while the cause is not known for certain, doctors are increasingly pointing the finger at the country’s high obesity rate – around four in 10 adults are obese – and poor dietary practices. 

The dual benefit of keeping patients’ weight down and preventing insulin resistance is thought to protect against the formation of tumors.

Dr Nathan Berger, co-leader of the study and a professor of experimental medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, said: ‘The research is critically important for reducing incidence of CRC [colorectal cancer] in patients with diabetes, with or without overweight and obesity.

‘Our results clearly demonstrate that GLP-1 [receptor agonists] are significantly more effective than popular anti-diabetic drugs, such as Metformin or insulin, at preventing the development of CRC.’

The researchers looked at more than 1.2 million people with diabetes. 

They relied on a massive database of electronic health records to perform a study matching as many people as possible with the same characteristics—sex, race, age, socioeconomic status, and other medical conditions—to accurately compare new diabetes drugs in the same class as Ozempic with traditional diabetes treatments.

Among more than 22,500 diabetics who were treated with insulin, there were 167 cases of CRC.  

Meanwhile, among the same size population treated with GLP-1 receptor agonists, there were 94 cases, amounting to a nearly 44 percent reduction.

In a similar comparison of more than 18,500 patients with diabetes treated with Metformin, compared to the same number of patients with diabetes treated with GLP-1 receptor agonists, had a 25 percent reduction in CRC.

The rest of the roughly 1 million participants were on different diabetes drugs.

Dr Rong Xu, a professor at the School of Medicine, said: ‘To our knowledge, ‘this is the first indication this popular weight-loss and anti-diabetic class of drugs reduces incidence of CRC, relative to other anti-diabetic agents.’

Their research was published in the journal JAMA Oncology. 

People with obesity, or those with a body mass index above 30, are 1.3 times more likely to get colorectal cancer compared to people without.

CRC is typically seen in older adults over 50, but a growing number of people as young as in their 20s are being diagnosed.

Based on data from JAMA Surgery, between 2010 and 2030, colon cancer will have increased by 90 percent in people ages 20 to 34. Rectal cancer will have spiked by 124 percent in the same age group. 

Evan White, 24, from Dallas, had just graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in finance when he was diagnosed with colon cancer after dismissing his main symptom – tiredness – for months.

The tumor was not spotted until it had progressed to stage three, meaning it had spread outside the colon, making it much harder to treat. Mr White had been on track to marry his girlfriend and move to California, but his dreams were cut short when he died after a four-year battle with the disease.

And for those who are lucky enough to catch the cancer before it becomes terminal, their world is torn apart in other ways. Marisa Maddox, a paralegal, was robbed of the chance of having the big family she had always hoped for after a colon cancer diagnosis at 29 made her infertile. 

The Delaware native, now 38, had given birth to her son Luke just weeks before being given the devastating stage three cancer diagnosis, when she was told the tumor had spread to her lymph nodes.

But the harsh effects of radiotherapy caused so much damage to her ovaries that she was unable to have more children, putting an end to Maddox and her lawyer husband Robert’s dream of having a big family.

It is believed that obesity causes the body to become resistant to processing glucose and thus insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar. But high levels of insulin have been shown to promote the growth of cancer cells.

Obesity can also lead to a gut microbiome imbalance, causing a disturbance in the process of nutrient absorption in the body, which may be linked to the development of CRC.

At the same time, excess fat can lead to chronic inflammation in bodily tissues, raising the risk of inflammatory diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver. That chronic inflammation also promotes the growth of tumor cells.

GLP-1 agonists, initially approved to treat type 2 diabetes but took off due to their effects on reducing weight, address all of those risk factors, including insulin sensitivity and inflammation that raise the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Wegovy and Ozempic specifically spur weight loss by mimicking the actions of GLP-1, or glucagon-like peptide-1, a hormone in the brain that regulates appetite and feelings of satiety. 

This hormone curbs hunger and slows the the rate at which a person’s stomach empties, leaving them feeling fuller for longer. 

GLP-1 agonists might also decrease the brain’s response to rewarding stimuli, including delicious food and potentially other substances like alcohol and nicotine.