Cohort Study: GLP1 receptor agonist use not associated with significant increase in thyroid cancer risk – The BMJ

A large Scandinavian cohort study investigated the association between glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) receptor agonist use and thyroid cancer risk in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from 2007 to 2021. The study compared 145,410 patients treated with GLP1 receptor agonists to 291,667 patients treated with dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) inhibitors and included an additional analysis with sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. Results showed no significant increase in thyroid cancer risk among GLP1 users over a mean follow-up of 3.9 years, with a hazard ratio of 0.93 (95% CI, 0.66 to 1.31) compared to DPP4 inhibitor users. The study utilized nationwide cancer registers and employed an active-comparator, new user design to minimize confounding, using Cox regression models adjusted by propensity score weighting. The findings suggest that while small risk increases cannot be definitively ruled out, the use of GLP1 receptor agonists does not substantially elevate thyroid cancer risk.

Reference (link to free full-text):

Björn Pasternak et al. (2024). Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist use and risk of thyroid cancer: Scandinavian cohort study. BMJ, 385. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-078225