Nareg Varjabedian, Regulatory Affairs Team Lead at ClinChoice, shared a post on LinkedIn about a paper by Alex E. Henney et al. published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism:
“New Evidence: Metformin + GLP-1 RAs Significantly Reduce Cancer Risk and Mortality in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
The landscape of diabetes and metabolic medicine is evolving rapidly. A new large-scale cohort study from the TriNetX Global Research Network provides highly compelling evidence that could reshape how we think about long-term outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes (T2D).
According to this analysis, combining Metformin + GLP-1 Receptor Agonists (RAs) offers powerful protection not only for glycemic control—but also for cancer prevention and overall survival.
TOPLINE RESULT:
Dual therapy with Metformin + GLP-1 RA over a 5-year period was associated with:
39% lower risk of adiposity-related cancers
67% lower mortality
Compared with patients treated with DPP-4 inhibitors.
These benefits exceeded the effects of either Metformin or GLP-1 RA when used alone.
METHODOLOGY:
Data source: TriNetX global research network
Population: Hundreds of thousands of adults with T2DM
Compared 4 cohorts:
- Metformin
- GLP-1 RAs
- Metformin + GLP-1 RA
- DPP-4 inhibitors (reference group)
Propensity score matching used to balance clinical variables
Primary endpoint: Time to incident adiposity-related cancer
Follow-up duration: 5 years
KEY FINDINGS:
1) Metformin vs DPP-4 inhibitors
4% ↓ cancer risk
22% ↓ mortality
2) GLP-1 RAs vs DPP-4 inhibitors
14% ↓ cancer risk
39% ↓ mortality
3) Metformin + GLP-1 RAs (Dual Therapy)
39% ↓ cancer risk
67% ↓ mortality
Dual therapy significantly reduced risks of multiple cancers, including:
hepatocellular, colorectal, pancreatic, gastric, esophageal, uterine, breast, kidney, brain cancers, melanoma, multiple myeloma, and head & neck cancers.
Why This Matters:
For the first time, researchers demonstrated a synergistic protective effect of Metformin + GLP-1 RA therapy on cancer outcomes—both in patients with and without obesity.
At a time when obesity, T2DM, and cancer incidence are rising worldwide, identifying therapies that improve both metabolic and oncologic outcomes is of critical public health importance.
Clinical Significance:
This study suggests that in T2DM management, the combination of GLP-1 RA + Metformin may provide:
- Better long-term metabolic control
- Lower cancer risk
- Substantially improved survival
Potentially making it a preferred therapeutic strategy over DPP-4 inhibitors in appropriate patients.”
Title: Synergistic associations of metformin and GLP-1 receptor agonist use with adiposity-related cancer incidence in people living with type 2 diabetes
Authors: Alex E. Henney, Megan Heague, David R. Riley, Theresa J. Hydes, Matthew Anson, Uazman Alam, Daniel J. Cuthbertson
You can read the full article in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.
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