Overview
- The JAMA Network Open cohort, published Monday, linked GLP-1 receptor agonists to lower death and fewer recurrences in some women with breast cancer.
- The team reviewed records for more than 840,000 patients diagnosed from 2006 to 2023, focusing on GLP-1 drugs used for diabetes and weight loss, and saw the strongest links in those with obesity or type 2 diabetes.
- Among patients with obesity, use of these drugs was associated with a 65% lower risk of death over 10 years and a 56% lower risk of cancer coming back.
- In women with diabetes, outcomes looked better with GLP-1 drugs than with insulin or metformin, while comparisons with SGLT2 inhibitors were less clear.
- Authors and outside experts said the results are observational and limited by electronic health record data, reliance on diagnostic codes, and unknown medication adherence, and they called for randomized trials to test cause and guide care.