The excitement around the idea that GLP-1 drugs can prevent cancer is running well ahead of the evidence.
Early cancer concernsBefore the current buzz that GLP-1 drugs could reduce cancer risk, the worry ran in the opposite direction: that they might raise cancer risk.
Human thyroid C cells are less sensitive to GLP-1 drugs compared to rodent C cells because they have far fewer GLP-1 receptors.
A 2025 analysis of data from 93 clinical trials found no clear link between taking certain GLP-1 drugs and thyroid cancer.
The cancer story turns on its headGLP-1 drugs, once scrutinised for possibly causing cancer, are now being discussed as drugs that might prevent or even treat cancer.
In the weeks around the 2026 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, my phone kept buzzing with alerts about GLP-1 drugs and cancer. The headlines were everywhere – from NPR and The Washington Post to Substack and heated exchanges on social media – all circling the same claim: Ozempic might lower the risk of cancer.
Behind those headlines is a real wave of studies , involving millions of patients. I’m a physician and clinical epidemiologist , and my team and I design and interpret these same kinds of studies that test what widely used drugs actually do.
The excitement around the idea that GLP-1 drugs can prevent cancer is running well ahead of the evidence. Not wrong, necessarily. Just not yet earned.
Cancer is among the hardest things to study, because it is not one disease but more than a hundred . Breast cancer, lung cancer and blood cancers are not variations of the same disease; each has its own distinct biology and its own mix of genetic, environmental and behavioral risks.
A single drug never gets one verdict on how it affects cancer. It gets a hundred, raising the risk of some, lowering it for others and leaving most untouched.
Early cancer concerns
Before the current buzz that GLP-1 drugs could reduce cancer risk, the worry ran in the opposite direction: that they might raise cancer risk.
Researchers were originally concerned about thyroid cancer. Studies in rodents found that Ozempic caused thyroid C cell tumors, which is why U.S. regulators added a black box warning in June 2026 to the drug that advises against its use among those with a personal or family history of related conditions.
But rodents are not people. Human thyroid C cells are less sensitive to GLP-1 drugs compared to rodent C cells because they have far fewer GLP-1 receptors. Long-term studies in monkeys did not show the same abnormal thyroid cell growth seen in rodents.
A 2025 analysis of data from 93 clinical trials found no clear link between taking certain GLP-1 drugs and thyroid cancer. European regulators reached the same conclusion in 2023 after reviewing available research on GLP-1s.
Pancreatic cancer was another concern. Here, too, researchers found no consistent increased risk from taking GLP-1 drugs in a 2025 analysis of data from 62 studies.
The reassurance is real but provisional. These drugs are young, and cancer can take decades to surface .
The cancer story turns on its head
GLP-1 drugs, once scrutinised for possibly causing cancer, are now being discussed as drugs that might prevent or even treat cancer.
A 2024 study of more than 1.6 million people with Type 2 diabetes found lower rates of 10 out of 13 obesity-related cancers in people treated with a GLP-1 drug compared to insulin.
