It seems like every day there is new information about the value of weight loss drugs in fighting diseases other than obesity. From addiction to inflammatory illnesses, these GLP1s are making their way through the disease dictionary and today they stop at “C” — the big C, or as most of us know it, cancer.

According to the Center for Disease Control, there are 13 cancers associated with obesity — for adults that is someone with a body mass index of 30 and above. This means that about two in every five adults in the U.S. have obesity. The most recent global study, put out by the Lancet in 2022, estimates that 1 billion people are living with obesity.

To narrow down this picture to some individual obesity-related cancer numbers: In 2019, 34.9 percent of liver, 53.1 percent of endometrial, 37.1 percent of gallbladder and 37.8 percent of esophageal adenocarcinoma cancer diagnoses were attributed to obesity, according to the National Institute of Health.

It only stands to reason that weight loss would lead to a reduction in these statistics. And more current research agrees.

A direct obesity-cancer connection has always been a complicated argument because one person might lose weight and not get cancer but someone else might lose weight and still get cancer. The studies have therefore always been observational. But a recent mass influx of patients utilizing what most of us now refer to as weight loss drugs draws some numbers that can’t be ignored.

A 2024 study published in JAMA used those 2019 study numbers and aligned historical data with current obesity-related cancer numbers, resulting in a strong correlation between the use of these drugs (and subsequent weight-loss) and obesity-related cancer risk.

The study, using data of more than 1 million U.S-based patients with type 2 diabetes, found a risk reduction in 10 of the 13 obesity-related cancers for those prescribed GLP-1Ras, compared with those prescribed insulins or metformin.

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The correlation indicates potential use of the drugs as preventative. Researchers also note that “Given that T2D and overweight or obesity have negative impacts on patients during cancer therapy, GLP-1RAs should be evaluated for control of these comorbid conditions during cancer therapy as well as for secondary prevention to delay cancer recurrence.”

Louis J. Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, says the handful of these drugs on the market is only the beginning.

He and his team are working on other drugs that aim to allow patients to lose more weight by targeting more hormones.

These drugs have a way to go before they hit the market, but Aronne’s team estimates one of its new drugs, an oral GLP-1 simulator from Eli Lilly, along with a couple of others, could be available to the public by the end of 2026. Several more in clinical trials will follow in 2027, he tells KUST Review.

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