Wegovy, Ozempic Could Reduce Deaths Resulting from
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A study that was recently published by a team of UC San Diego researchers has found that colon cancer patients who were also taking GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, had a 50% lower mortality rate when compared to colon cancer patients that didn’t use these medications.
While these findings don’t suggest a causative effect, the researchers posit that the metabolic and anti-inflammatory effects of the GLP-1 drugs could be playing a role in reducing mortality among cancer patients.
For their study, the team analyzed the medical records of at least 6,800 patients that had been diagnosed with colon cancer in the different health facilities of the University of California. The analysis revealed that patients using the GLP-1 medications had a 50% less chance of dying within 5 years after diagnosis when compared to those that weren’t taking the medications. To be exact, mortality within 5 years was 15.5% among GLP-1 medication users while among non-users it was 37.1%.
This finding suggests that these drugs, which have been sensational in their ability to address weight management and diabetes, could have yet another important role they can play.
The researchers, led by Associate Professor Raphael Cuomo, noted that the GLP-1 drugs were particularly beneficial to colon cancer patients that were obese (with a BMI exceeding 35). This suggests that the GLP-1 medications may be offsetting a significant degree of metabolic stress and inflammation, factors that complicate cancer treatment.
Laboratory tests have also found that GLP-1 medications could increase cancer cell apoptosis, inhibit tumor cell growth, and make the microenvironment around tumors unsupportive for cancer’s progression.
Doctor Cuomo highlighted the fact that their findings are no more than observational, so people should not be quick to draw any causative conclusions. He emphasized that their results create an urgent need for clinical trials to be conducted with a view to establishing the exact role that GLP-1 medications play or don’t play in prolonging the survival of cancer patients, especially those having cancers linked to obesity.
This study opens a strong possibility that existing drugs that have also obtained regulatory approval for certain clinical indications could have other therapeutic roles that they can play. As many companies like CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) focus on developing new treatments against certain cancers of the brain, other teams could intensify the study of how drugs for unrelated conditions can help in the fight against cancer.
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