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Drugs like Ozempic can prevent a deadly cancer that is emerging among young people, a major study indicates.
Researchers examined the medical records of more than 1.2 million Americans with type 2 diabetes who were ages x and y over a period of x years.
They found that people taking GLP-1 receptor agonist medications, the family to which Ozempic and Wegovy belong, had a 44 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer compared to diabetics treated with insulin.
The drugs’ protective effects were evident in people with and without obesity, in what doctors called a “critically important” discovery.
Rates of colorectal cancer in young people are expected to double by 2030, and although the cause is not known with certainty, doctors are increasingly pointing to the country’s high obesity rate (about 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 tumor formation.
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University did not name specific diabetes/weight loss medications used in the study, but Ozempic belongs to the same class of medications used known as GLP-1 agonists.
Data from JAMA Surgery showed that colon cancer is expected to increase by 90 percent in people ages 20 to 34 by 2030. Doctors aren’t sure what is driving this mysterious increase, although many have pointed out the finger on the country’s high obesity rate and poor dietary practices
Dr. Nathan Berger, co-leader of the study and professor of experimental medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, said: “The research is vitally important to reducing the 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 antidiabetic drugs, such as metformin or insulin, in 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 medical records to conduct a study that linked as many people as possible with the same characteristics (sex, race, age, socioeconomic status, and other medical conditions) to accurately compare new anti-inflammatory drugs. diabetes in the same class as Ozempic with traditional diabetes treatments.
Among more than 22,500 diabetics 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, representing a reduction of almost 44 percent.
In a similar comparison of more than 18,500 diabetes patients treated with metformin, compared with the same number of diabetes patients treated with GLP-1 receptor agonists, there was a 25 percent reduction in CRC.
The rest of the approximately 1 million participants were taking different diabetes medications.
Dr Rong Xu, professor at the Faculty of Medicine, said: “To our knowledge, this is the first indication that this popular class of antidiabetic and weight loss drugs reduces the incidence of CRC, relative to other antidiabetic agents. “. ‘
Their research was published in the journal. JAMA Oncology.
People who are obese or have a body mass index greater than 30 are 1.3 times more likely of getting colorectal cancer compared to people who don’t get it.
CRC is usually seen in adults over 50 years of age, but an increasing number of people as young as 20 are being diagnosed.
According to 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 increased by 124 percent in the same age group.
Evan White, 24, of Dallas, had just graduated with a degree in finance from the University of Arkansas when he was diagnosed with colon cancer after months of dismissing his main symptom, fatigue.
The tumor was not detected until it progressed to stage three, meaning it had spread outside the colon, making it much more difficult to treat. White was 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.
Evan White, of Dallas and the oldest of three children, was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer at the age of 24 after entering the hospital to have a tonsil abscess removed. He appears in the photo above at Christmas with his then puppy, a Bernese Mountain Dog, named Lola.
Marisa Maddox, pictured above with her husband Robert, 48, and son Luke, now nine, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 29.
And for those lucky enough to get cancer before it becomes terminal, their world is torn apart in other ways. Marisa Maddox, her legal assistant, was robbed of the opportunity to have the big family she had always hoped for after a colon cancer diagnosis at age 29 left her infertile.
The Delaware native, now 38, had given birth to her son Luke just weeks before receiving the devastating diagnosis of stage three cancer, when she was told the tumor had spread to her lymph nodes.
But the harsh effects of the radiotherapy caused so much damage to her ovaries that she was unable to have any more children, ending Maddox and her lawyer husband Robert’s dream of having a big family.
Obesity is thought to cause the body to become resistant to processing glucose and therefore insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar. But elevated levels of insulin have been shown to promote the growth of cancer cells.
Obesity can also cause an imbalance in the intestinal microbiome, causing an alteration in the nutrient absorption process in the body, which may be related to the development of CRC.
At the same time, excess fat can cause chronic inflammation in body tissues, increasing the risk of inflammatory diseases such as nonalcoholic fatty liver. This chronic inflammation also promotes the growth of tumor cells.
Wegovy and Ozempic work by causing the body to produce a hormone called GLP-1 that is released naturally from the intestines after meals.
GLP-1 agonists, initially approved to treat type 2 diabetes but taking off because of their weight-loss effects, address all of those risk factors, including insulin sensitivity and inflammation, that increase disease risk cardiovascular.
Wegovy and Ozempic specifically stimulate 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 fullness.
This hormone curbs hunger and slows the rate at which a person’s stomach empties, leaving them feeling full longer.
GLP-1 agonists may also decrease the brain’s response to rewarding stimuli, including delicious food and potentially other substances such as alcohol and nicotine.