GLP-1 Receptor Agonists May Have Little or No Effect on Obesity-Related Cancers

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) seem to have little or no effect on obesity-related cancers, according to a review published online Dec. 8 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Albert Ko, M.D., from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues examined the risk for obesity-related cancer associated with GLP-1 RAs in a systematic review of randomized placebo-controlled trials reporting thyroid, pancreatic, colorectal, gastric, esophageal, liver, gallbladder, breast, ovarian, endometrial, or kidney cancer; multiple myeloma; or meningioma. The review included 48 trials, with 94,245 participants.

The researchers found that GLP-1 RAs probably have little or no effect on the risk for thyroid cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, or kidney cancer. For colorectal, esophageal, liver, gallbladder, ovarian, or endometrial cancer; multiple myeloma; or meningioma, GLP-1 RAs may have little to no effect (low certainty). For gastric cancer, the effect was very uncertain. In sensitivity analyses of trials with a low risk for bias, studies of semaglutide or tirzepatide, and across subgroups stratified by follow-up duration, population, GLP-1 RA class, weight loss profile, dose, and duration of action, results were consistent.

“These findings offer important insights into the safety of GLP-1 RAs but highlight the need for longer-term studies with cancer-specific end points to clarify potential risks or protective effects,” the authors write.

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