As demand for these medications continues to climb, there's a surprising twist to the growing list of possible benefits—and one caution.
Prescribed GLP-1 medications, including but not limited to options like Ozempic and Mounjaro, can assist with weight loss as well as help manage type 2 diabetes. But these drugs might also offer yet another advantage to patients who use them regularly: lowering the risk of cancer, according to recent research.
A large, observational study published in JAMA Oncology in August 2025 found that adults with obesity who used GLP-1 receptor agonists had a lower rate of new cancer diagnoses—by 17%—when compared with similar adults who didn’t take these medications, according to the multifaceted team of scientists mostly representing the University of Florida.
In the study, researchers analyzed records from the OneFlorida+ health network, which included more than 86,000 adults, between 2014 and 2024. The researchers contrasted about 43,300 adults with obesity or who were overweight and users of GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) with another 43,300 adults who were not using the medications but were eligible to take them.
From there, the study specifically looked into the incidence of cancer rate of lung cancer plus 13 “obesity-associated” cancers: liver, thyroid, pancreatic, bladder, colorectal, kidney, breast, endometrial, meningioma, upper gastrointestinal, ovarian, multiple myeloma, and prostate.
The findings showed that adults taking the GLP-1s had a 17% lower risk of developing one of the 14 cancers tracked by the study. The researchers specifically noted the reduced risk of endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, and meningioma, which the Cleveland Clinic defines as “the most common type of brain tumor.”
However, the study’s text notes that there was an increased kidney cancer risk among GLP-1 users, leading to “the need for longer-term follow-up” to understand the “underlying mechanisms and clinical implications” of the data.
These findings build on earlier research showing that using GLP-1 medications may be associated with lower obesity-related cancer risks. Researchers say future studies should also include individuals who do not have diabetes to further investigate potential results.
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