Weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic help stave off some cancers, reports NPR:
Scientists see this class of drugs, called GLP-1 agonists, as a breakthrough because of how they act on the brain to regulate the body’s hormones, slow digestion, and tamp down hunger. And in several recent studies, they show early promise in preventing many common cancers — including breast, colon, liver, and ovarian — known to be driven by obesity and excess weight…One research letter published in JAMA Oncology last year, for example, suggests GLP-1 drugs might reduce the risk of colon cancer, even among people who are not overweight. A more recent analysis in JAMA Network Open suggests GLP-1s provide far more protection against cancer for diabetic patients than insulin treatments.
Another recent study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncologists meeting in June, showed both bariatric surgery and GLP-1 medications dramatically reduce the risk of the 13 obesity-related cancers. Among those who had bariatric surgery, that risk declined by 22% over 10 years compared to those who received no treatment. But among those taking GLP1 medications, risk dropped by a whopping 39%….
there’s also an especially close relationship between estrogen and cancer. “What we do know is that estrogen in particular — and possibly some other hormones, but estrogen for sure — drives the growth of many cancers”….And fat cells increase production of estrogen. That means women today are increasingly susceptible to cancer. Historically, men faced a much higher risk of developing cancers — in large part because they were more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors like smoking or drinking, Kamal says. But in recent years, the high prevalence of obesity among both men and women is closing that gender gap.
In other news, a new lung-cancer drug radically increases survival rates. New personalized cancer vaccines cut death rates by 40-50% for some people suffering from skin or breast cancer.
A new blood test can detect which bowel cancer patients can receive a lifesaving immunotherapy rather than chemotherapy, enabling them to be cancer free after surgery. Around 10-15% of patients with stage two or three bowel cancer have a particular genetic make-up that enables them to benefit from the life-saving immunotherapy known as pembrolizumab.
Earlier, a blood test was developed that detects many brain cancers that doctors previously couldn’t detect until it is too late to save most victims.
Many people die waiting for the FDA to approve life-saving drugs and tests. For example, at least a hundred thousand people died waiting years for the FDA to approve beta blockers. One of the FDA officials involved in delaying their approval was John Nestor. Nestor was notorious for following rules in ways designed to deliberately delay other people, such as his habit of deliberately driving slowly in the fast lane on highways in order to slow down other motorists.
The FDA didn’t approve a home test for HIV until 24 years after it first received an application. According to an FDA advisory committee, the test held “the potential to prevent the transmission of more than 4,000 new HIV infections in its first year of use alone.” That means thousands of people likely got infected with AIDS as a result of the delay in approving it. As Roger Parloff noted in Fortune, the FDA’s delay in approving the home HIV test was a “scandal.” It caused the deaths of thousands of people.
