Weight loss jabs could slow the spread of prostate cancer and make treatments more effective, researchers say.
Scientists will test the drugs against the disease after finding prostate cancer cells were more likely to duplicate and spread after being exposed to fat.
They believe the likes of Mounjaro and Wegovy – taken by an estimated 1.5million Britons – may disrupt communication between the fat and cancer.
Dr Claire Fletcher, from Imperial College London, said: ‘We think the main effect would be slowing down the progression of the disease.’
While her team did not study the mechanism behind the findings, she believes the drugs may reduce fat around the prostate – effectively depriving it of a source of fuel, which the cancer cells use to grow and spread around the body.
Dr Fletcher told the Telegraph: ‘We know from other studies that anti-obesity drugs can reduce inflammation in fat tissue and that could potentially help the immune system fight prostate cancer as well, because when the fat is inflamed it stops the immune cells getting to the tumour.
‘We also think we could see potentially an improved response to hormone therapies.’
Hormone therapy is a common prostate cancer treatment which blocks or lowers levels of testosterone, which the disease also uses to grow.
Scientists believe the likes of Mounjaro and Wegovy may disrupt communication between fat and prostate cancer.
‘Hormone therapy increases fat around the middle of the body, which has been shown to be important in driving prostate cancer,’ Dr Fletcher added.
‘Weight-loss drugs could prevent or reduce this.’
Early next year, the team plans to test whether giving weight-loss jabs to mice slows or reverses the progression of prostate cancer.
‘With lab data and animal studies, we will hopefully be in a position where we could take this into patients in the near future,’ Dr Fletcher said.
‘We know that patients will be able to tolerate [weight-loss drugs] well and it might actually help to improve their symptoms management and their response to other treatments. It’s something we’re really excited about.
‘One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and that figure is rising.
‘Incidents of obesity and being overweight are also rising.
‘We see that as a ticking time bomb.
The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate cancer deaths
‘Obesity is now overtaking smoking as the largest modifiable cancer risk factor.
‘We think that is particularly important in prostate cancer because the volume of fat that sits around the prostate is very clearly linked with poorer drug response in patients and a faster disease progression and spread outside of the prostate.’
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with 63,000 cases and 12,000 deaths each year – but unlike breast, bowel and lung cancer, there is currently no national screening programme.
The Daily Mail is campaigning to end needless prostate cancer deaths and for a national prostate cancer screening programme, initially targeted at high risk men, such as those who are black, have a family history of the disease or particular genetic mutations.
After her research has been published, Dr Fletcher believes it could encourage men to talk to their GP about taking weight-loss jabs to reduce their risk of developing the disease.
‘Helping to manage their risk factors could be an important factor in determining whether they eventually do get prostate cancer or not,’ she added.
Draft guidance issued by the UK National Screening Committee last month only recommended offering checks to men with specific genetic mutations.
It has launched a three-month public consultation and health secretary Wes Streeting has vowed to consider all the latest evidence before deciding whether to implement their advice when the consultation closes early next year.
