Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists and 13 Obesity-Associated Cancers in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
An erratum to this article was published (JAMA Netw Open, 2 Jun 2025 ↗)
Authors' conclusion
In this study, GLP-1RAs were associated with lower risks of specific types of OACs compared with insulins or metformin in patients with T2D. These findings provide preliminary evidence of the potential benefit of GLP-1RAs for cancer prevention in high-risk populations and support further preclinical and clinical studies for the prevention of certain OACs.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with T2D without prior OAC diagnosis prescribed GLP-1 RA, insulins or metformin, March 2005 to November 2018, US EHR database of 113 million patients; mean age 59.8 (SD 15.1) years, 50.1% male
- Participants
- 1,651,452 patients
- Exposure
- GLP-1 RA vs insulin or metformin
- Outcome
- Incident (first-time) diagnosis of each of 13 obesity-associated cancers (OACs)
- Follow-up
- 15-year follow-up
Methodological detailsnationwide multicenter EHR database, propensity-score matched
- Nationwide multicenter EHR database
- Propensity-score matched
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Incident OACs, GLP-1 RA vs insulin
GLP-1RAs vs InsulinHazard ratio (95% CI)
Gallbladder cancer
0.35(0.15–0.83)
Meningioma
0.37(0.18–0.74)
Pancreatic cancer
0.41(0.33–0.50)
Hepatocellular carcinoma
0.47(0.36–0.61)
Ovarian cancer
0.52(0.03–0.74)
Colorectal cancer
0.54(0.46–0.64)
Multiple myeloma
0.59(0.44–0.77)
Esophageal cancer
0.60(0.42–0.86)
Endometrial cancer
0.74(0.60–0.91)
Kidney cancer
0.76(0.64–0.91)
Stomach cancer; not statistically significant
0.73(0.51–1.03)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | HR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Incident OACs, GLP-1 RAvs metforminKidney cancer; increased risk | 1.54 (1.27–1.87) | |
| 0.512Hazard ratio (log scale) |
Incident obesity-associated cancers (OACs), GLP-1 RA vs metformin
- Not associated with decreased risk of any cancers vs metformin
- Hazard ratios (HRs) for colorectal and gallbladder cancer <1 vs metformin, not statistically significant
Original publication
Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists and 13 Obesity-Associated Cancers in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes. JAMA Netw Open. Published 1 July 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →