What is the correlation between these new weight loss drugs and MTC? Why is it so bad to continue the drugs if you have MTC?
In: Biology
Correlations between thyroid cancer and GLP1 agonists have been seen in animal studies and in some human studies.
Overall these aren’t recommended for those with thyroid cancers (or with genetics that cause increased risk for thyroid cancers) as the risk of cancer far outweighs any potential benefits from treating weight loss or diabetes (esp when there are alternative diabetes medications)
The use of these drugs has [been shown](https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/46/2/384/147888/GLP-1-Receptor-Agonists-and-the-Risk-of-Thyroid) to drastically increase the risk of medullary thyroid cancer and all other forms of thyroid malignancies.
Those kinds of cancers aren’t very common in the general population. If someone shows they have this kind of cancer, it can be treated but it is a huge risk factor for recurrence. Adding that increased risk to the increased risk caused by the drug is usually not worth it, especially since there are alternatives to GLP-1 drugs for most people.
Pharmacist: it’s because during drug testing, they noted in animal studies an increased incidence of thyroid cancer. More specially it was in rats. Now last I checked, rats aren’t humans and the lines between risk and benefits become blurred. As a result prescribers aren’t likely to treat people with a GLP1s if they have a history of thyroid cancers.
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