A new American study has revealed that drugs widely used to treat obesity and diabetes may also help improve survival rates for breast cancer patients and reduce the likelihood of the disease returning after treatment.
The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, examined the effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, a class of drugs that has become popular in recent years for its effectiveness in weight loss and the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
The researchers relied on an analysis of the electronic health records of more than 840,000 breast cancer patients diagnosed between 2006 and 2023, with the aim of studying the relationship between the use of these drugs and the outcomes of breast cancer treatment, especially among those with obesity or diabetes.
The results showed that the use of GLP-1 drugs was associated with a reduced risk of death from any cause during a follow-up period of up to ten years. The likelihood of breast cancer recurrence was also significantly lower among survivors who used these drugs to treat obesity or diabetes after initial treatment.
Bernard V. Voemler, senior author of the study and associate director of population sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, said the findings suggest these drugs may offer additional protective benefits for breast cancer patients, explaining that the exact reason for this effect is still unknown and may be related to weight loss, improved cardiovascular health, or other biological mechanisms.
Christina L. Tatum, the lead author of the study, explained that the results are consistent with previous laboratory research that indicated a possible role for these drugs in the field of tumors, stressing the need for more studies and clinical trials to understand the nature of this association more accurately.
Researchers point out that breast cancer patients who also suffer from obesity or diabetes often face more aggressive tumors and worse treatment outcomes, which increases the importance of studying the potential effects of GLP-1 drugs in improving treatment and survival chances.
These drugs were approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in 2005 and then for obesity and weight management in 2021, before their use increased dramatically in recent years. According to a RAND Corporation report, approximately 12% of Americans have used GLP-1 inhibitors for weight loss since 2020.
