Can a diabetes drug reduce the risk for colorectal cancer? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Diabetes drugs known as GLP1 receptor agonists are much in the news for weight loss. Now a new study finds that when people with diabetes take them, their risk of colorectal cancer is reduced. Kimmel Cancer Center director William Nelson at Johns Hopkins looks at the data.

Nelson: They looked at a database of folks who had type 2 diabetes, they looked at 1.2 million medical records and they found cases where these folks with diabetes had colorectal cancer and when they took the colorectal cancer cases they tried to find people who were in every way they could assess similar except they didn't have colorectal cancer. What they found was that those who took the GLP one receptor agonists were more likely to have lost weight, they had about a 44% lower risk of developing colorectal cancer.   :31

Nelson notes that the benefits of the GLP 1 receptor agonists were seen whether someone with diabetes lost weight or not. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.