Beyond Weight at ECO2025: Cancer, Liver Disease & More
As we are on the way to the European Congress on Obesity in Málaga, Spain, one thing stands out. The science presented at this conference will make it plain that obesity is about much more than just excess weight and weight loss.We are looking forward to an array of presentations that deal with the effects of obesity on the health of people who live with it and the effects of treatment on reducing the burden of everything from cancer to liver disease and a whole lot more.
Cancer and Obesity
Multiple presentations – both oral and posters – address the relationship between obesity and the cancers associated with it. But an especially intriguing presentation looks at GLP-1 agonists versus metabolic surgery with respect to obesity-related cancers. At the meeting, people will be exploring the potential for research on the effects of obesity treatment to prevent cancer. One presentation offers “a policy blueprint” for healthy weight and cancer prevention.
Liver Disease
A Wednesday symposium will present us with a thorough exploration of the intersection between MASH and obesity. The meeting will also offer us a deep dive into the results from the ESSENCE trial with semaglutide in MASH and obesity. With all of this coming together in Málaga, we will have a unique opportunity to absorb some remarkable progress in understanding the interaction of these two diseases and some remarkable progress in treating them.
More Than Weight
In a statement released to preview Novo Nordisk science coming to the congress, the company suggests it sees the real value of obesity care in the effect it can have on a broad range of complications. Senior Vice President Stephen Gough says:
“Obesity is one of the greatest healthcare challenges we face globally, impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Without effective interventions, the global burden of obesity and its complications will continue to rise. Our broad and robust semaglutide data presented at ECO, including its impact on weight loss in a real-world setting and its early clinical effect on cardiovascular events and death, significantly adds to the growing body of evidence showing the value of semaglutide to individuals, healthcare systems and society.”
Gough has the right idea. And here’s the thing. It is plain that folks from Novo Nordisk are not the only ones to figure this out. A new paper in the Journal of Internal Medicine nicely documents the broad effects of obesity on life and health of the people who live with it.
The competition is growing as people realize weight loss is just a starting point for the benefits of obesity care that extend to cardiometabolic health, liver disease, cancer, and beyond.
We have a lot to look forward to.
Click here for more about ECO2025 and here for the new paper in JIM.
Málaga Cathedral, photograph by Diego Delso, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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May 10, 2025
