SynthesisDiabetes, obesity & metabolism2025
GLP-1 receptor agonists and the risk for cancer: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in Diabetes, obesity & metabolism, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 38 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Phase II Multi-institutional Randomized Trial Evaluating the Impact of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists in Combination With Total Neoadjuvant Therapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer
Pre-Diagnosis GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Use and Post-Cancer Mortality in Adults With Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes: A Target Trial Emulation
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Incretin-Based Therapies in Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity: A Systematic Review of GLP-1 and Dual GIP/GLP-1 Agonists.Cardiovascular toxicology · 2026Pooled it
- GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Noncardiometabolic Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses.JAMA network open · 2026Pooled it
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus and cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of Mendelian randomization studies.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- Cancer outcomes and biological mechanisms among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Pooled it
- GLP-1 receptor agonists and the risk for cancer: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2025 · on this mapPooled it
- From abdominal adiposity to liver fibrosis: Expanding promise of semaglutide for Asian Indians.Indian journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology · 2026Article
- GLP-1 Receptor Agonists for Weight Loss and Risk of Major Safety Outcomes: A Multicentre Cohort Study.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2026Article
- GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Obesity Related Cancers: What We Know So Far.Current oncology reports · 2026Review
- Genetic Assessment of Oesophageal Safety of GLP-1 and GIP Receptor Perturbation: A Drug-Target Mendelian Randomisation Study.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Beyond Weight Loss: A Comprehensive Review of Integrated Pharmacotherapy and Metabolic Bariatric Surgery in Endometrial Cancer Care.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Review
- Metabolic Modulation in Cancer Care: The Potential Role of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2026Review
- Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist use and risk of gynecologic cancers: a meta-analysis of multinational real-world cohort studies.Preventive medicine reports · 2026Article
- Role of GLP-1 receptor agonists in the prevention and treatment of obesity-related cancer.Internal and emergency medicine · 2026Review
- Modulation of the tumor microenvironment by incretins and glucagon: Metabolic and immune mechanisms (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2026Review
- Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists are associated with cardiac, cancer- and mortality-related benefits in diabetic patients treated with anthracyclines.European heart journal open · 2026Article
- Papillary thyroid carcinoma discovered in a patient on semaglutide therapy for metabolic syndrome: a case presentation and review of current evidence.Hormones (Athens, Greece) · 2026Review
- Exposure to GLP-1RA and Risk of Structural Progression in Differentiated Thyroid Cancer.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Observational
- Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists and cancer risk: the good, the bad and the unknown.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2026Review
- Clinical Implications of Mounjaro (Tirzepatide) for Breast Cancer Detection and Management: A Narrative Review.Cureus · 2026Review
- GLP-1 Medications in Oncology Nursing Practice.Clinical journal of oncology nursing · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsTo assess if there is a difference in the oncogenic risk between GLP-1 RA and comparators in randomized controlled trials. MATERIALS AND
methodsA meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing GLP-1RA to any comparators for diabetes and/or obesity, lasting at least 52 weeks. The endpoints included the incidence of overall cancers and single malignancies.
resultsFifty trials were included. GLP-1RA treatment was not associated with a significant difference in risk for overall cancer (MH-OR 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.98, 1.13]). Uterine cancer was significantly reduced in the GLP-1RA arm in trials performed in subjects with obesity (MH-OR 0.24, 95% CI [0.06, 0.94]), but not in those aimed at diabetes treatment (MH-OR 0.92, [0.58, 1.47]). We detected an increase in the risk for thyroid cancer (MH-OR 1.55, [1.05, 2.27]), more evident in longer-term trials, and in the risk for colorectal cancer (MH-OR 1.27 [1.03, 1.57]), which, conversely, was significant only in shorter-term trials. No significant difference in the risk was detected for any other cancer.
conclusionsGLP-1 RA do not appear to produce an effect on most malignancies in clinical trials. A reduction of very close obesity-associated cancers seems possible, whereas a risk signal for thyroid cancer was observed, prompting the need for further specific studies. On the other hand, the small increase observed in colorectal cancer in shorter-term trials may be the effect of a disproportionate increase in diagnostic procedures in the GLP-1 RA arm, because of the suspicion raised by common side effects of GLP-1 RA.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.