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Weight-Loss Drugs May Lower Cancer Risk in People with Diabetes, a Study Suggests 

A box of Ozempic made by Novo Nordisk is seen at a pharmacy in London, Britain March 8, 2024. (Reuters) 
A box of Ozempic made by Novo Nordisk is seen at a pharmacy in London, Britain March 8, 2024. (Reuters) 
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Weight-Loss Drugs May Lower Cancer Risk in People with Diabetes, a Study Suggests 

A box of Ozempic made by Novo Nordisk is seen at a pharmacy in London, Britain March 8, 2024. (Reuters) 
A box of Ozempic made by Novo Nordisk is seen at a pharmacy in London, Britain March 8, 2024. (Reuters) 

Excess body weight can raise the risk of certain cancers, leading researchers to wonder whether blockbuster drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepbound could play a role in cancer prevention.

Now, a study of 170,000 patient records suggests there's a slightly lower risk of obesity-related cancers in US adults with diabetes who took these popular medications compared to those who took another class of diabetes drug not associated with weight loss.

This type of study can't prove cause and effect, but the findings hint at a connection worth exploring. More than a dozen cancers are associated with obesity.

“This is a call to scientists and clinical investigators to do more work in this area to really prove or disprove this,” said Dr. Ernest Hawk of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who was not involved in the study.

The findings were released Thursday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and will be discussed at its annual meeting in Chicago. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was led by Lucas Mavromatis, a medical student at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.

“Chronic disease and chronic disease prevention are some of my passions,” said Mavromatis, a former research fellow with an NIH training program.

GLP-1 receptor agonists are injections used to treat diabetes, and some are also approved to treat obesity. They work by mimicking hormones in the gut and the brain to regulate appetite and feelings of fullness. They don't work for everyone and can produce side effects that include nausea and stomach pain.

In the study, researchers analyzed data from 43 US health systems to compare two groups: people with obesity and diabetes who took GLP-1 drugs and other people with the same conditions who took diabetes drugs like sitagliptin. The two groups were equal in size and matched for other characteristics.

After four years, those who took GLP-1 drugs had a 7% lower risk of developing an obesity-related cancer and an 8% lower risk of death from any cause compared to those who took the other type of diabetes drug. There were 2,501 new cases of obesity-related cancer in the GLP-1 group compared to 2,671 cases in the other group.

The effect was evident in women, but not statistically significant in men. The study couldn't explain that difference, but Mavromatis noted that differences in blood drug concentration, weight loss, metabolism or hormones could be at play.

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Portugal Closes All Schools and Non-Essential Services Ahead of a Major Atlantic Storm

Heavy machinery clears the debris from a landslide along the Marocos road in Machico municipality, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, due to severe weather caused by the passage of Storm Charles, 11 November 2026. (EPA)
Heavy machinery clears the debris from a landslide along the Marocos road in Machico municipality, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, due to severe weather caused by the passage of Storm Charles, 11 November 2026. (EPA)
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Portugal Closes All Schools and Non-Essential Services Ahead of a Major Atlantic Storm

Heavy machinery clears the debris from a landslide along the Marocos road in Machico municipality, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, due to severe weather caused by the passage of Storm Charles, 11 November 2026. (EPA)
Heavy machinery clears the debris from a landslide along the Marocos road in Machico municipality, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, due to severe weather caused by the passage of Storm Charles, 11 November 2026. (EPA)

Portugal closed all schools and shuttered non-essential public services on Wednesday as a major Atlantic storm headed for the country's mainland.

Streets remained largely deserted ahead of the arrival of Storm Charles after the government told people to stay at home as heavy rain and rough seas were expected to batter the Portuguese coast, with wind gusts of up to 140 kph (85 mph).

It was the first time in living memory that Portugal’s roughly 8,000 schools had canceled classes nationwide over a storm forecast.

Buses without passengers drove through the country's capital, Lisbon, where some streets flooded due to clogged drains. A national supermarket chain closed its stores, while an international technology conference in Lisbon attended by around 70,000 people called off the day's events.

In January, the country's center-right government faced harsh criticism for its weak response when Storm Kristin hit central Portugal, felling thousands of trees and causing widespread property damage that is still being repaired.

The brunt of Storm Charles was expected to hit the Atlantic coast on Wednesday afternoon and evening, coming from the southwest after it had struck the Portuguese island of Madeira on Tuesday with 130 kph (81 mph) winds.

Varieties

Once the World's Fastest, Ocean Liner Will Become Largest Artificial Reef

The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. (Getty Images)
The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. (Getty Images)
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Once the World's Fastest, Ocean Liner Will Become Largest Artificial Reef

The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. (Getty Images)
The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. (Getty Images)

An ocean liner that is longer than the Titanic and was once the fastest on the seas is headed to a final home on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as the world's largest artificial reef.

The S.S. United States is scheduled to be sunk Wednesday off the coast of the Florida Panhandle, fulfilling a long-planned $13.5 million project aimed at attracting more divers and fishing enthusiasts to the area while creating a home for tuna, marlin and swordfish.

The project will keep what had been a technological marvel when it made its maiden voyage in 1952 from becoming scrap metal.

The S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times, carrying old Hollywood stars like Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor. Other passengers have included President John F. Kennedy and Britain’s former King Edward VIII. In 1968, a young Bill Clinton took it when he went to Oxford University, decades before he was elected president.

In preparation for the sinking, organizers removed the 65-foot smokestacks and plan to have them anchor a new museum that celebrates the ship. Once aboard, passengers were treated to dinners that included caviar, roast duckling, smoked ox tongue and Calf's Head en Tortue.

“It was our goal to make sure that she wasn’t lost forever,” said David Lawrence, a member of the board for the S.S. United States Conservancy, which is dedicated to preserving the ship.

The ship will be sunk without using explosives

Federal environmental and explosives rules prevent Okaloosa County, Florida, and its contractor from using explosives to scuttle the ship, said Nick Tomecek, the county's spokesperson. Concerns about inclement weather prompted officials to move up the sinking by a day.

The S.S. United States has pipes that pulled seawater into tanks as part of the system that cooled its boilers, he said, and those tanks have been removed so that once the valves are opened, water will flood the hull. Workers also have cut 10-foot by 10-foot holes in the decks, and more than 400 portholes have been removed.

The ship is to sink in about 180 feet (55 meters) of water, with its top deck about 60 feet (18 meters) below the surface — shallow enough that inexperienced divers can visit. It will settle on the floor of the waters about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Destin, between Panama City and Pensacola.

Larger than the Titanic, the ship's first voyage set a speed record

More than 3,000 workers helped build the S.S. United States in 1950 and 1951 in Virginia. An Associated Press reporter and President Harry Truman's daughter, Margaret, were among 1,700 passengers for the first voyage.

The ship's average speed for that trip was almost 41 miles (66 kilometers) per hour, besting a record set by Britain's R.M.S. Queen Mary in 1938 by 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) per hour, according to the AP's dispatch.

The S.S. United States set the record even though its journey ended in the face of a full gale that reached 69 miles (111 kilometers) per hour — “so strong it blew a ping pong table off the deck,” AP reported.

At 990 feet (302 meters), the ship is 108 feet (33 meters) longer than the ill-fated Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank on its first voyage across the Atlantic.

“She really embodies and expresses this country’s best,” said Susan Gibbs, the granddaughter of the ship's designer. “She represents pride and resilience and strength and beauty.”

The ship's resting place has many artificial reefs

About 500 artificial reefs are located in the waters near where the S.S. United States will rest, Tomecek said.

Previously, the largest artificial reef came from the 2006 scuttling of an aircraft carrier, the USS Oriskany in the Gulf off of Pensacola — near enough to the S.S. United States site that an experienced diver could visit both in the same day, Tomecek said. The Oriskany, launched in 1950, was 911 feet (278 meters) in length.

“We're trying to be the best diving destination in the world,” Tomecek said.

The ship was decommissioned in 1969. Attempts by a hotel magnate and Norwegian Cruise Lines to use the ship never floated, and from 1996 until recently, it sat along a dock in Philadelphia.

“I’m just so happy that we are able to save parts of her,” Gibbs said.

Varieties

Medical Breakthrough for People with Same Disorder as Celine Dion

Celine Dion. (AFP)
Celine Dion. (AFP)
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Medical Breakthrough for People with Same Disorder as Celine Dion

Celine Dion. (AFP)
Celine Dion. (AFP)

People suffering from stiff person syndrome (SPS), which affects Celine Dion, the singer, could soon benefit from a new medicine which improves symptoms.

Patients in the US were given a one-off immunotherapy drug in a clinical trial, resulting in two individuals regaining function related to everyday life that had been lost to SPS, according to The Telegraph.

SPS is a rare neurological disorder that gets progressively worse, and symptoms include stiffness in the body, spine, arms and legs.

The Telegraph said patients were given chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy, which teaches the body’s immune system to recognize and attack deadly cells causing disease.

CAR-T therapy is already approved on the NHS for some illnesses, including certain types of cancer, and research is ongoing.

One patient in the US trial, Jonathan Walden, had reached the point where walking and basic daily tasks required help from his family.

After CAR-T therapy, he has now returned to work and normal activities.

“I can go to work every single day. I can do everything I did before. I go hunting, I can go fishing,” he said.

Dr. Anastasia Zekeridou, a neurologist and researcher at Mayo Clinic in Rochester in the US, which led the trial, said: “What was most striking was the degree of improvement we saw in some patients.”

“With existing treatments, we may be able to improve symptoms, but we very rarely see patients return to their previous level of function,” she said, adding that these early results are very encouraging, and the key question now is whether those improvements will be sustained over time.

Dr. Sean Pittock, chairman of the department of neurology at Mayo Clinic, said: “CAR-T therapy has already transformed the treatment of some cancers, and we are now beginning to see its potential in autoimmune neurologic diseases.”

Pittock also explained that the results in stiff person syndrome offer tremendous hope, not only for people living with this disease but potentially for patients with other immune-mediated neurologic conditions where effective treatment options remain limited.

“There is still much we need to learn, but this opens an exciting new avenue for the field,” he said.

Dion, the Canadian vocalist, announced she was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome in December 2022.

In an Instagram video, she told fans the condition had affected “every aspect of my daily life,” including harming her voice.

SPS affects an estimated 8,000 people worldwide. The British Neurological Surveillance Unit identified 119 confirmed cases in the UK across a five-year tracking period between 2000 and 2005.

Scientists believe it can become a widespread syndrome that affects multiple parts of the body and involves the brain, brainstem and spinal cord.