HQ Team
July 28, 2026: People taking GLP-1 drugs (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, the same class as Ozempic and Wegovy) for diabetes alongside an early-stage cancer diagnosis may be significantly less likely to see their cancer spread to other organs, according to real-world data presented at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
The study pulled health records of 12,112 people from the TriNetX database, all diagnosed with stage I, II, or III cancer in one of seven obesity-linked types: breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, liver, kidney, and pancreatic. Half the group had started a GLP-1 drug, options included semaglutide, tirzepatide, dulaglutide, and liraglutide, after their diagnosis, while the other half had started a DPP-4 inhibitor (gliptin), an older class of diabetes medicine. Researchers then tracked how many people in each group progressed to stage IV, or metastatic, disease.
The results were consistent across four cancer types
For lung, breast, colorectal, and liver cancers, people on GLP-1s were 38% to 50% less likely to progress to stage IV than those on gliptins. The gap showed up clearly in the numbers: 10% of the GLP-1 group with lung cancer progressed to stage IV, compared with 22% of the gliptin group. Breast cancer followed a similar pattern (10% versus 20%), as did colorectal (13% versus 22%) and liver cancer (19% versus 28%). For prostate, pancreatic, and kidney cancers, the GLP-1 group also fared better, though the difference wasn’t statistically significant.
Researchers separately examined tumour samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas and found that cancers with high GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) expression, meaning more of the docking site these drugs act on, were associated with a 33% lower risk of death overall, and a 45% lower risk specifically in breast cancer.
Why this matters
Type 2 diabetes affects an estimated 29 to 40 million people in the US alone, and diabetes roughly doubles a person’s risk of developing certain cancers, largely because chronically high blood sugar, high insulin levels, and inflammation create conditions that help tumours grow. GLP-1s were built to manage that metabolic dysfunction, and this study adds to evidence that the same mechanism may also restrain cancer once it’s already present.
“GLP-1 receptor agonists have never been just glucose-lowering drugs. Their anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory properties have long suggested broader effects,” said Marcin Chwistek, MD, chief of supportive oncology and palliative care at Fox Chase Cancer Center and an ASCO expert not involved in the study.
Lead author Mark David Orland, MD, of Cleveland Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Institute, said the findings point to “a meaningful reduction in cancer progression across four solid tumor types” and build a case for further study.
What’s next
The study did not find higher rates of pancreas or stomach inflammation in the GLP-1 group, despite both conditions being separately linked to GLP-1 use and to cancer. Researchers now want randomized controlled trials to confirm the connection and pin down exactly how GLP-1s might be slowing tumour progression — whether by acting directly on cancer cells, modulating the immune response, cutting inflammation, or limiting the fuel supply tumours need to grow. The study had no external funding and will be formally presented at ASCO’s late-May meeting.
