GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and the Risk of Thyroid Cancer
- Design
- Case-control · 47746 participants · Hard outcome
- Match to healthy normal-weight adults aged 55–75
- Different populationType 2 diabetes; French claims data.
- Could weight loss explain it?
- Unknown[Auto] Harm signal; weight-loss mediation not the relevant question, but consider whether harms relate to rapid weight loss or reduced intake.
- Study tier
- Study tier 4Nested case-control with plausible detection bias; contradicted by a larger active-comparator cohort.
- Assessment
- Version 2 · curated · Sep 13, 2026
Study facts come from the paper. Population match, weight-loss explanation and study tier are our judgments, made against the reference group of healthy normal-weight adults aged 55–75.
A French case-control study found about 60% higher thyroid cancer risk after 1-3 years of GLP-1 use in people with diabetes. Detection bias is a concern, and a larger Scandinavian cohort found no increase.
01Findings
What the study reported
- Drugs
- Class unspecified
- Primary outcome
- Thyroid cancer (nested case-control, French SNDS)
- Effect
- 1-3 years use: all thyroid cancer aHR 1.58; medullary aHR 1.78
- 95% confidence interval
- 1.27 to 1.95; 1.04 to 3.05
- Follow-up
- 6 years
- Adverse events
- Not extracted
- Limitations
- Auto-classified from abstract only; effect estimates, adverse events and limitations not extracted. Requires manual review.
Who was studied
- Diabetes status
- type 2 diabetes on second-line drugs
Study quality details
- Study design
- Case-control
- Sample size
- not extracted
- Randomization
- no
- Blinding
- not stated
- Comparator
- not stated
- Follow up duration
- 6 years
- Outcome type
- unknown
- Replication
- not assessed (auto)
- Consistency with other evidence
- not assessed (auto)
- Population applicability
- INDIRECT
- Statistical precision
- moderate
- Risk of bias
- detection bias plausible (more thyroid imaging in GLP-1 users); claims-based diagnoses
- Funding conflicts
- unclear
- Peer review status
- yes
02Funding
Funding and conflicts
- Funding
- Non-US government (per PubMed)
- Industry funded
- No
- Manufacturer
- None identified
- Sponsor role
- not reported in abstract
- Author conflicts
- See published disclosures.
- Independent replication
- no; contradicted
Funding is shown on every study and never used to score it.
03Claims
Claims this study bears on
- GLP-1 receptor agonists increase the risk of thyroid cancer in humans.Supports
SNDS nested case-control: aHR 1.58 all thyroid cancer, 1.78 medullary, for 1-3 years' use.
04Source
The source, as retrieved
Abstract
[OBJECTIVE] To determine whether use of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (RA) is associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer. [RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS] A nested case-control analysis was performed with use of the French national health care insurance system (SNDS) database. Individuals with type 2 diabetes treated with second-line antidiabetes drugs between 2006 and 2018 were included in the cohort. All thyroid cancers were identified through hospital discharge diagnoses and medical procedures between 2014 and 2018. Exposure to GLP-1 RA was measured within the 6 years preceding a 6-month lag-time period and considered as current use and cumulative duration of use based on defined daily dose (≤1, 1 to 3, >3 years). Case subjects were matched with up to 20 control subjects on age, sex, and length of diabetes with the risk-set sampling procedure. Risk of thyroid cancer related to use of GLP-1 RA was estimated with a conditional logistic regression with adjustment for goiter, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, other antidiabetes drugs, and social deprivation index. [RESULTS] A total of 2,562 case subjects with thyroid cancers were included in the study and matched with 45,184 control subjects. Use of GLP-1 RA for 1-3 years was associated with increased risk of all thyroid cancer (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.58, 95% CI 1.27-1.95) and medullary thyroid cancer (adjusted HR 1.78, 95% CI 1.04-3.05). [CONCLUSIONS] In the current study we found increased risk of all thyroid cancer and medullary thyroid cancer with use of GLP-1 RA, in particular after 1-3 years of treatment.
Where this record came from
| Source | Retrieved | Identifier |
|---|---|---|
| pubmed | Sep 13, 2026 | 36356111 first ingestion |