
The use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists for the treatment of obesity is a fairly recent phenomenon. As a result, a less extensive safety database exists for their use in obesity relative to type 2 diabetes, leaving providers with many unanswered questions.
During Severe GLP-1RA Side Effects in Obesity Treatment—Fact or Fiction?, a panel of experts will discuss the relative risks and strategies for mitigating the severe side effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists in the treatment of obesity. The symposium will be held on Sunday, June 23, from 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. ET in Room W415B, the Valencia Ballroom, of the Orange County Convention Center. It also will be livestreamed on the virtual meeting platform for registered meeting participants and will be available on-demand following the 84th Scientific Sessions.

Daniel J. Drucker, MD, Professor of Medicine at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mt. Sinai Hospital, Canada, will begin the session by discussing the evidence surrounding several potentially serious adverse events related to the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists, including pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, and gallbladder events.
“We will review the data, relative risk, and strategies for mitigating adverse events in people using GLP-1 medicines,” said Dr. Drucker.
One potentially severe adverse event related to the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists is suicide risk. John-Michael Gamble, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada, will present scientific evidence on the link between GLP-1 receptor agonists and suicidality, including observational studies, pharmacovigilance studies, and meta-analyses of randomized controlled data.

“The session on suicide risk will review the origins of the safety signal for suicidality and provide potential biologic explanations for the purported link with GLP-1 receptor agonists,” Dr. Gamble said. “The latest published evidence will be reviewed with an emphasis on its limitations and clinical implications.”
Beyond these serious adverse events, GLP-1 receptor agonists come with a black box warning about the risk for medullary thyroid cancer based on rodent models. However, it needs to be clarified whether this risk translates to humans. This is a timely topic, as a case-control study published in 2023 suggests an increased risk for both medullary and all thyroid cancers in patients with diabetes who were being treated with GLP-1 receptor agonists. Elizabeth N. Pearce, MD, MSc, Professor of Medicine at Boston University, will discuss this topic.

“I will try and summarize data from animal studies, observational cohort studies, randomized clinical trials, and pharmacovigilance studies that have looked at associations between GLP-1 use and risk for both medullary thyroid cancer and for other forms of thyroid cancer,” Dr. Pearce said.
Beverly G. Tchang, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medicine, will review practical guidelines for clinicians and patients on managing GLP-1-related side effects.
“Those common side effects are typically gastrointestinal. We’ll talk about strategies to mitigate nausea, reflux, diarrhea, and constipation,” Dr. Tchang said. “Even though I’m providing some general strategies on how to mitigate GLP-1-related side effects, the most important takeaway is individualizing treatment for each person and recognizing that what works for one person may not work for another.”
Get On-Demand Access to the Scientific Sessions
There is still time to register for on-demand access to learn about the latest advances in diabetes research, prevention, and care presented at the 84th Scientific Sessions. Select session recordings will be available through Aug. 26.