Experts Propose 10-Year Trial for Anti-Obesity Drugs

Researchers suggest testing new obesity medications to prevent obesity-related cancers in high-risk patients.

Mar. 26, 2026 at 10:07am

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A global panel of 21 obesity and cancer experts has proposed a 10-year clinical trial to test if new obesity drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide can prevent obesity-related cancers. The trial would involve 5,000 participants with overweight or obesity and a cancer precursor condition, with the intervention group receiving an obesity medication plus a behavioral weight loss program, and the control group receiving just the behavioral program. The experts believe this high-risk population and trial design will provide definitive results on the drugs' potential to reduce obesity-related cancer risk.

Why it matters

Obesity is a major risk factor for 13 different types of cancer, and the global obesity epidemic is expected to lead to a surge in obesity-related cancers. If the new generation of highly effective obesity medications can be shown to prevent these cancers, it could have a significant impact on public health worldwide.

The details

The expert panel, led by Dr. Matthew Harris and including researchers from the University of Manchester and University of Leeds, met in July and October 2025 to design the proposed trial protocol. They determined that a trial in the general obese population would require 50,000 participants and be too expensive, so they instead targeted a high-risk group of 5,000 participants with overweight/obesity and a cancer precursor condition like Barrett's esophagus or colonic polyps. This population is expected to provide definitive results on the drugs' cancer prevention potential within 10 years.

  • The expert panel met in July and October 2025 to design the trial protocol.
  • The proposed 10-year clinical trial is planned to begin in 2026.

The players

Dr. Matthew Harris

Lead researcher on the expert panel proposing the 10-year obesity drug cancer prevention trial.

Professor Andrew Renehan

Researcher from the University of Manchester's Division of Cancer Sciences, representing the work at the European Congress on Obesity.

European Congress on Obesity (ECO2026)

The conference where the proposed trial protocol will be presented in Istanbul, Turkey from May 12-15, 2026.

Cancer Research UK

The funder of the PADRIAC project, which the Manchester-Leeds team is working on related to cancer prevention trials.

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What they’re saying

“We now have drugs that can achieve levels of weight loss that were previously only possible with surgery. The critical next step is to understand whether this can actually prevent cancers. Our study shows that, by focusing on high-risk groups, a definitive trial is potentially feasible and scientifically robust.”

— Dr. Matthew Harris

“There has been a lot of excitement among cancer experts that obesity drugs might offer a real opportunity to prevent hundreds of thousands of cancers globally.”

— Professor Andrew Renehan, Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester

What’s next

The proposed 10-year clinical trial is planned to begin in 2026 at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, Turkey.

The takeaway

This novel trial design targeting a high-risk population of overweight/obese individuals with cancer precursor conditions could provide definitive evidence on whether the new generation of highly effective obesity medications can actually prevent obesity-related cancers, which would have major public health implications worldwide.