Certain medications used to treat type 2 diabetes like Ozempic may also reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, according to a new study.
- GLP-1 analogues are antidiabetic drugs effective in preventing the development of colorectal cancer.
- People treated with GLP-1 analogs had a 44% reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer compared to those treated with insulin.
- Further research is needed to confirm and understand these results.
Accounting for approximately 10% of cancer cases worldwide, colorectal cancer is the third most common type of malignancy. A new study, led by Case Western University Reserve and published in the journal JAMA Oncology December 7, 2023, offers new hope in the fight against this disease: Medicines used to treat type 2 diabetes could help reduce the risk of developing it.
Colorectal cancer: antidiabetics to prevent the disease
The researchers were interested to analogues of the receptor GLP1 – either theexenatideTHE liraglutideTHE dulaglutideTHE semaglutide (best known by the name of Ozempic) – because these drugs are used to treat type 2 diabetes or obesity, two risk factors for colorectal cancer. The team wanted to know whether these treatments could therefore also reduce the incidence of the disease.
To test this hypothesis, scientists analyzed a large database containing more than 100 million electronic health records. They have compared diabetic patients treated with analogues of GLP-1 to those treated with other antidiabetic drugs.
Of the 22,572 diabetic patients treated with insulin, 167 cases of colorectal cancer were noted. On the same number of patients treated with analogs of GLP-194 cases were recorded. The researchers thus calculated that people treated with type drugs semaglutide showed a 44% reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer. When comparing metformin and analogs of GLP-1the reduction in risks was 25%.
Colorectal cancer and antidiabetics: further research needed
“Our results clearly demonstrate that the analogs of GLP-1 are significantly more effective than popular antidiabetic medications, such as metformin or insulin, in preventing the development of colorectal cancer.”explains Nathan Berger, co-principal investigator of the study in a communicated.
“To our knowledgeadds the co-principal investigator Rong Xu, “This is the first indication that this popular class of weight-loss and anti-diabetic drugs reduces the incidence of colorectal cancer compared to other anti-diabetics.”
However, the researchers recognize that their promising results require additional clinical studies to confirm these conclusions and better understand the mechanisms at play.
