Fat jabs could become ‘statins for cancer‘ after they were found to slash the risk of contracting the disease.
Medications such as Wegovy, Mounjaro and Ozempic were found to have disease-prevention qualities beyond their weight-loss benefits.
Scientists from Israel said the drugs, also known as GLP-1s, may be up to 41 per cent more effective at preventing obesity-related cancer than weight loss alone – and could also help prevent other types of cancer.
It comes as British researchers are planning a major trial to see if the drugs can provide a new ‘weapon’ in the fight against soaring cancer rates.
They could potentially be prescribed long before any cancer symptoms in the same manner as statins are taken to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Researcher Yael Wolff Sagy, based in Tel Aviv, said: ‘This is potentially very exciting news for patients who are at high risk of obesity-related cancer, and possibly even other cancers.
‘When we compared the risk reduction in patients who had a surgery versus those who used weight-loss medication, we saw it remained the same – even though the surgery patients lost a lot more weight.
‘When we took into account the differences in weight reduction, we found the jabs were 41 per cent more effective at preventing cancer.
Medications such as Wegovy, Mounjaro and Ozempic were found to have disease-prevention qualities beyond their weight-loss benefits
Scientists from Israel said the drugs may be up to 41 per cent more effective at preventing obesity-related cancer than weight loss alone – and could also help prevent other types of cancer (file image)
‘This indicates there is an additional mechanism with the jabs beyond simple weight loss.
‘We believe this effect may come from the inflammation-reducing quality of GLP-1s. But of course, this type of study cannot say for sure that that’s the mechanism.’
Professor Mark Lawler, of Queen’s University Belfast, said it was an observational study so caution was needed, but added that fat jabs could be ‘transformational’ in preventing cancer.
