Prognostic impact of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP1R) expression on cancer survival and its implications for GLP-1R agonist therapy: an integrative analysis across multiple tumor types.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists, such as exenatide (Byetta, Bydureon), liraglutide (Victoza, Saxenda), albiglutide (Tanzeum), dulaglutide (Trulicity), lixisenatide (Lyxumia, Adlyxin), semaglutide (Ozempic, Rybelsus, Wegovy), and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound), are widely used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity. While these agents are well known for their metabolic benefits, there is growing interest in their potential effects on cancer biology. However, the role of GLP-1R agonists in cancer remains complex and not fully understood, particularly across different tumor types. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of GLP1R expression on overall survival across various cancer types. Using a comprehensive analysis of gene expression data and survival outcomes a large cohorts of different tumor types, we employed Cox proportional hazards survival analyses, coupled with false discovery rate determinations, to explore correlations between GLP1R expression and survival. The integrated database included thousands of cancer specimens with available overall survival time and event data from numerous independent cohorts, providing a robust platform for survival analysis. Our findings reveal that increased GLP1R expression is associated with improved overall survival in cancers such as bladder cancer, breast cancer, esophageal adenocarcinoma, renal clear cell carcinoma, and thyroid carcinoma. Conversely, higher GLP1R expression is linked to poorer survival outcomes in cervical squamous cell carcinoma, lung squamous cell carcinoma, stomach adenocarcinoma, and uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma. Additionally, GLP1R expression showed no significant impact on overall survival in cancers such as esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, colon cancer, head-neck squamous cell carcinoma, renal papillary cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, ovarian cancer, and pancreatic cancer. In conclusion, GLP1R expression levels serve as an important biomarker with potential prognostic significance across multiple cancers, demonstrating both protective and adverse associations depending on the tumor type. These findings highlight the complex role of GLP-1R agonists in cancer risk and survival, suggesting that the therapeutic use of these agents should be carefully tailored to the individual patient's cancer risk profile.