GLP-1 receptor agonists could reduce 5-year mortality in colon cancer

Patients with colon cancer who are using glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists for blood sugar regulation and/or weight control appear to have achieved a significantly lower risk of death from colon cancer.

The findings were reported on Nov. 11, 2025 in Cancer Investigation.

The study was led by Raphael Cuomo Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and a member of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

Cuomo and his team extracted and analyzed real-world clinical data from the University of California Health Data Warehouse.

They used data on 6,871 subjects to investigate the association between GLP-1 receptor agonists and five-year mortality in patients with primary colon cancer, considering body mass index (BMI).

After adjusting for age, BMI, disease severity and other health factors, GLP-1-treated subjects were less than half as likely to die within five years compared to those who did not use a GLP-1 drug (15.5% versus 37.1%).

The survival benefit was greatest for subjects with very high BMI (over 35).

The researchers hypothesized that GLP-1 drugs may help counteract the inflammatory and metabolic conditions that worsen colon cancer prognosis.

Cuomo noted that the results are observational, and they suggest a need for clinical trials to determine whether GLP-1 drugs can improve cancer survival rates, especially for patients with obesity-related cancers.