Experts hail 'whole new era' for cancer prevention as drugs found to slash risk

jabs could "herald a whole new era of preventative medicine" by slashing risk of -related tumours, experts have said. Research presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Malaga, Spain, found the drugs has a similar effect on cancer risk to bariatric surgery. The surgery, which involves modifying the digestive system to to reduce food intake, has been found to cut rates of obesity-related cancers by 30 to 42%.

Weight loss jabs, or medications, mimic the effect of a hormone that makes you feel full. The study analysed the preventative effects of older forms of the drugs, such as liraglutide. But experts said next generation drugs like semaglutide lead to greater weight loss - and could therefore be even more effective for cancer prevention.

Professor Mark Lawler, an international cancer researcher expert from Queen's University Belfast who was not involved with the research, said the study was observational so caution was needed interpreting the results.

He added: "These results are very exciting. We already know that bariatric surgery cuts obesity-related cancer risk by about a third.

"These data suggest that target glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1s) may cut that risk by nearly 50% - an approach that would be transformational in preventing obesity-related cancer.

"Biologically, this makes sense, as targeting GLP-1 dampens down inflammation, one of the hallmarks of cancer."

Prof Lawler said the research raised "the intriguing possibility that a GLP-1 agonist jab could prevent multiple cancers in the general population, including common cancers like and colorectal and difficult to treat cancers like pancreatic and ovarian".

He added: "This work could herald a whole new era of preventative cancer medicine."

The study was led by experts in , who analysed data from 6,356 people. Around half had bariatric surgery while the rest took weight loss drugs.

After an average follow-up of 7.5 years, 298 patients had been diagnosed with obesity-related cancers.

The most common were postmenopausal breast cancer, bowel cancer and cancer of the uterus.

Surgery patients typically lost more weight and had a slightly lower rate of cancer diagnoses. But statistical analysis showed that if patients lost the same amount of weight, the preventative effect appeared to be much stronger for those on the weight loss drugs.

This suggested that the drugs had other protective effects not linked to weight changes.

Study co-lead author Professor Dror Dicker from Hasharon Hospital, Rabin Medical Center, said anti-inflammatory benefits likely played a role.

He added: "New generation, highly potent GLP1-RAs with higher efficacy in weight reduction may convey an even greater advantage in reducing the risk of obesity-related cancers, but future research is needed to make sure that these drugs do not increase the risk for non-obesity-related cancers."

Study co-leader Dr Yael Wolff Sagy from Clalit Health Services, said: "We do not yet fully understand how GLP-1s work, but this study adds to the growing evidence showing that weight loss alone cannot completely account for the metabolic, anti-cancer, and many other benefits that these medications provide."

Professor Jason Halford, former president of the European Association of the Study of Obesity and head of psychology at Leeds University, said the drugs should also be tested in patients with newly-diagnosed cancers to see if they boost survival chances.

He added that the drugs have "the potential to be a new dawn. And it's not just prevention, weight management in people recently diagnosed with cancer is also critical in terms of outcomes.

"That would be the next thing to look at. More and more cancers are being associated with obesity."

The findings, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, come as British scientists are planning a major trial of weight loss jabs against cancer that will involve tens of thousands of patients.

A consensus statement signed by 54 specialists from 12 countries, calling for such research to be prioritised, was presented at the conference.

Dr Matthew Harris, of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, said: "Rates of obesity have been rising quite substantially across the world for the past 30 years. We haven't seen any country, particularly in the West, able to curb that rise. Around 4-8% of all cancers can be directly attributed to obesity."

He added: "The GLP-1 receptor agonists, injectable weight loss medications, give a genuinely promising possible option for cancer prevention in the future.

"As these medications are becoming more and more widely available, there's not necessarily time to wait around before we actually undertake a clinical trial to answer this really important question."