Can Ozempic prevent cancer? A doctor explains why the headlines are easy to misread

Initial concerns about the cancer risk of GLP-1 drugs have made an about-face. Roberto Pfeil/Picture Alliance via Getty Images In the weeks around the 2026 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, my phone kept buzzing with alerts about GLP-1 drugs and cancer. The headlines were everywhere – from NPR and The Washington Post to Substack and heated exchanges on social media – all circling the same claim: Ozempic might lower the risk of cancer. Behind those headlines is a real…