Ozempic helps ‘Natural Killer’ cells curb cancer in people with obesity: study

This trendy new drug is doing double duty.

Weight loss drugs containing semaglutide, including Ozempic, could be used to fight cancer, a new study suggests.

Researchers at Maynooth University in Ireland explored the wide-ranging benefits of GLP-1 medications that are commonly used to fight obesity, discovering that the treatments may aid the body’s ability to fight cancer.

The study, published Tuesday in the journal Obesity, investigated the effects of obesity medications on the body’s “Natural Killer cells,” immune system cells that can attack tumor and virus cells. Obesity can disrupt the function of these immune cells, putting people with the condition at a higher risk of developing cancer.

The team analyzed a cohort of 20 patients with obesity, observing them for six months while using once-weekly injections of semaglutide, the drug in Wegovy and Ozempic. Their findings, which will be presented at the 30th European Congress on Obesity this month, suggest that the drug restored the function of the NK cells.

“My team and I are very excited by these new findings in relation to the effects of the GLP-1 treatment on people with obesity and it appears to result in real tangible benefits for those currently on the drug,” Dr. Andrew Hogan, the study’s principal investigator, said in a statement.

Typically prescribed to patients with Type 2 diabetes, semaglutide — used in Ozempic and Wegovy — can also help people with obesity ward off cancer.Getty Images/iStockphoto

Obesity has been linked to increased risks of premature death, whether by high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancers and more. This “ground-breaking” discovery, researchers said, could spell a possible solution to the aforementioned adverse health effects that may come with obesity.

“We are finally reaching the point where medical treatments for the disease of obesity are being shown to prevent the complications of having obesity,” said Donal O’Shea, a professor and the national clinical lead for obesity with Ireland’s publicly funded health care system, the Health Service Executive. “The current findings represent very positive news for people living with obesity on GLP-1 therapy and suggest the benefits of this family of treatments may extend to a reduction in cancer risk.”

But Hogan, who is also an associate professor at the university’s Kathleen Lonsdale Institute for Human Health Research, noted the drug’s worldwide shortage as a result of the “recent spike in popularity” of GLP-1 treatments due to celebrity endorsement.

The once-weekly injection, researchers found, jump-started the functions in “Natural Killer cells.”Getty Images/iStockphoto

The weight loss jabs are typically used to treat people with Type 2 diabetes, but their widespread off-label usage among those wanting to shed some pounds has caused a debilitating shortage for diabetics.

“Rich people are buying this stuff off-prescription for upward of $1,000. Actual diabetics are seeing shortages,” actress Jameela Jamil decried, in part, on Instagram. “It’s now a mainstream craze in Hollywood.”

Once touted as a “game changer,” semaglutide can cause sagging skin and a gaunt “Ozempic face” as a result of the weight loss.

The rise of Ozempic coincides with the development of other weight loss medications.

In March, researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio published a report on their own drug: CPACC. In theory, the jab — which scientists are attempting to replicate in a pill — could allow the user to eat whatever they want without the added pounds tacked on.

But for those who benefit the most from the medications, a worldwide shortage has become an obstacle.Getty Images/iStockphoto

“One of the main barriers to people losing weight is getting to a healthy diet and sticking to it, and also, you typically have to combine it with pretty aggressive exercise — and not everyone can exercise,” study author Travis Madaris, a doctoral student working with professor Madesh Muniswamy, previously told The Post.

“This, standalone or maybe in combination with some minor lifestyle changes, would definitely be game-changing for people that struggle with losing weight,” he continued.

Tirzepatide, a weekly injectable, rivals Wegovy and Ozempic as well. Last month, its manufacturer, Eli Lilly, revealed the drug, known by its brand name Mounjaro, helped participants in a clinical trial shed almost 16% of their body weight in 16 months.