LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - Patients with type 2 diabetes

taking GLP-1 treatments, which include Ozempic, have a lower

chance of developing 10 types of obesity-related cancers than

those taking insulin and other diabetes drugs, according to a

study published on Friday.

GLP-1 treatments for type 2 diabetes have been on the market

for nearly 20 years. The newer generation - such as Novo

Nordisk's Ozempic and Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) Mounjaro -

are far more effective at controlling blood sugar levels and

inducing weight loss. Ozempic was the first of the newer

generation in the class to be approved, in 2017.

In the study published on Friday in medical journal JAMA

Network Open, researchers examined the medical records of 1.6

million patients with type 2 diabetes who had no prior history

of 13 types of obesity-related cancers including gallbladder

cancer and kidney cancer.

The study did not specify which GLP-1 medicines the patients

took, but the records were for patients on these medicines or

insulin or the diabetes drug metformin between March 2005 and

November 2018. Ozempic was only approved by the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration in December 2017.

The study found that the patients treated with a GLP-1

therapy instead of insulin "had a significant risk reduction" in

10 of those cancers.

The findings are "preliminary evidence of the potential

benefit" of GLP-1 drugs for cancer prevention in high-risk

population, the researchers concluded. They also said that

studies of the newer generation of these medicines for their

cancer preventative effects are warranted.

The authors of the study did not report having received

funds from drugmakers who market these medicines.

The versions of these medicines that are approved to treat

obesity, and have been shown to help patients lose as much as

20% of their weight on average, have exploded in popularity,

leading to record profits for Novo and Lilly.

Lilly's Mounjaro and weight-loss therapy Zepbound, as well

as Novo's rival medicines Ozempic and Wegovy are already being

studied to see whether they can improve health in many other

ways, ranging from alcohol addiction to sleep apnea.

In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved

Wegovy for lowering the risk of stroke and heart attack in

overweight or obese adults who do not have diabetes.