GLP-1 Evidence

Not medical advice. A record of published research and our assessments of it. The limits

Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Use and Risk of Postmastectomy Lymphedema in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Multicenter Real-World Cohort Study

Design
Retrospective cohort · 61630 participants · Unknown outcome
Match to healthy normal-weight adults aged 55–75
Different population[Auto] Participants had obesity/overweight (age/BMI not reported in abstract).
Could weight loss explain it?
Possibly[Auto] Participants had obesity and/or type 2 diabetes and the abstract does not separate direct drug effects from weight loss or glycaemic improvement.
Study tier
Preliminary[Auto] Not peer reviewed (preprint, abstract or registration). Early-warning only.
Assessment
Version 1 · automatic, not yet reviewed by a person · 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. This item has not been peer reviewed.

[Auto, unreviewed; last sentences of abstract] These findings are hypothesis-generating and support prospective studies evaluating metabolic and anti-inflammatory strategies for lymphedema prevention in breast cancer survivorship. <bold>Clinical trial number</bold> : Not Applicable </p>

01Findings

What the study reported

Drugs
Class unspecified
Comparator
no exposure
Primary outcome
Not extracted
Effect
Not extracted
95% confidence interval
Not extracted
Follow-up
Not stated
Adverse events
Not extracted
Limitations
Auto-classified from abstract only; effect estimates, adverse events and limitations not extracted. Requires manual review.

Who was studied

Obesity status
obesity/overweight present (all or most)
Sample size
61630

Study quality details

Study design
Retrospective cohort
Sample size
61630
Randomization
no
Blinding
not stated
Comparator
not stated
Follow up duration
not stated
Outcome type
unknown
Replication
not assessed (auto)
Consistency with other evidence
not assessed (auto)
Population applicability
INDIRECT
Statistical precision
CI reported: 95% CI 0
Risk of bias
not assessed (auto)
Funding conflicts
unclear
Peer review status
no
02Funding

Funding and conflicts

Funding
not reported in abstract
Industry funded
Unclear
Manufacturer
None identified
Sponsor role
not reported in abstract
Author conflicts
not available in metadata
Independent replication
unknown

Funding is shown on every study and never used to score it.

04Source

The source, as retrieved

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> <p> <bold>Purpose</bold> Postmastectomy lymphedema is a chronic survivorship complication after breast cancer treatment, particularly among patients exposed to axillary surgery. Obesity and metabolic inflammation are recognized contributors to lymphedema risk. This study evaluated whether glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist exposure was associated with lower incident postmastectomy lymphedema among breast cancer patients undergoing mastectomy and/or axillary procedures. <bold>Methods</bold> We performed a retrospective cohort study using deidentified electronic health record data from the TriNetX Research Network. Adult patients with breast cancer who underwent mastectomy, axillary lymphadenectomy, sentinel lymph node biopsy, or had acquired absence of breast/nipple were stratified by GLP-1 receptor agonist exposure versus no exposure. One-to-one propensity score matching was used to balance measured baseline characteristics. The primary outcome was incident postmastectomy lymphedema syndrome. Outcomes were assessed from 1 to 650 days after the index event using risk estimates, Kaplan–Meier analysis, and Cox proportional hazards models. <bold>Results</bold> After propensity score matching, 61,630 patients were included, with 30,815 patients in each cohort. Postmastectomy lymphedema occurred in 258 of 29,259 GLP-1 receptor agonist users and 779 of 30,237 non-users, corresponding to risks of 0.88% and 2.58%, respectively. GLP-1 receptor agonist exposure was associated with lower postmastectomy lymphedema risk in time-to-event analysis (hazard ratio 0.373, 95% CI 0.324–0.429; p < 0.001). The absolute risk difference was − 1.7%, with an estimated number needed to treat of 59. <bold>Conclusion</bold> In this large real-world breast cancer cohort, GLP-1 receptor agonist exposure was associated with lower coded postmastectomy lymphedema risk over 650 days of follow-up. These findings are hypothesis-generating and support prospective studies evaluating metabolic and anti-inflammatory strategies for lymphedema prevention in breast cancer survivorship. <bold>Clinical trial number</bold> : Not Applicable </p>

Where this record came from

SourceRetrievedIdentifier
europepmcSep 13, 2026PPR:PPR1310711
first ingestion