The ‘fat jab side effects’ you should NEVER dismiss… they could be sign of deadly cancer
A mother has been told she has less than a year to live after she dismissed signs of cancer as being side effects from taking weight loss medication.
Dawn Clegg, 52, from Lancashire, was prescribed tirzepatide—sold under the brand name Mounjaro—to help treat her type 2 diabetes.
Dubbed the ‘King Kong’ of weight loss drugs, Mounjaro works by signalling the body to produce more insulin when needed, reducing the amount of glucose produced by the liver and slowing down digestion.
Like all medications, the revolutionary jab comes with a long-list of common side effects including indigestion, nausea, constipation and diarrhoea.
So when Ms Clegg started experiencing chest pain in March, she didn’t think much of it, putting her symptoms down to a side-effect.
But when the pain persisted, she went to A&E.
After undergoing several X-rays, further scans revealed shadows on her lungs, kidneys and breast—all pointing to a devastating diagnosis.
Ms Clegg was formally diagnosed with soft-tissue sarcoma and given just one year to live.
Dawn, (pictured right) with her husband Aaron (pictured left) initially put her chest pains down to a side-effect of Mounjaro
But when the pain persisted, she went to A&E where she was given a heartbreaking prognosis
This type of cancer is extremely rare, but aggressive and can start almost anywhere inside the soft tissue of the body, including muscles, fat, blood vessels, ligaments and tendons.
Whilst the most common symptom of soft-tissue sarcoma is a lump, other symptoms include abdominal pain and constipation—mirroring common side-effects of blockbuster weight loss jabs.
She was given the heartbreaking news that whilst the growth on her kidneys and breasts were benign, the one on her lungs was cancerous.
Her husband, Arron, 51, said: ‘We were devastated on hearing news of cancer.’
There are currently thought to be over 100 different types of sarcoma, with the disease affecting around 5,300 people per year.
‘The doctors don’t even know what type of sarcoma it is four months later, so finding the right treatment is extremely hard,’ he added.
‘She is now terminal and there is a high chance she won’t make her 52nd birthday next year.’
Now, healthcare professionals are urging weight loss jab users to stay vigilant and to not dismiss tell-tale warning signs of the disease.
Dawn was diagnosed with soft-tissue sarcoma after scans revealed growths on her lungs, breasts and kidneys
‘As a clinician, hearing about cases like this is always sobering,’ Dr Jack Ogden, an NHS GP at The Lagmon Clinic told The Sun.
‘It reinforces how easy it is for both patients and healthcare professionals to attribute symptoms to the most obvious cause.
‘In this case, weight loss injections, when something more serious may be underlying.’
Another patient, who is not linked to the clinic, started to experience persistent fatigue, nausea and early satiety—the medical term for feeling full after eating just a few bites—while on a GLP-1 weight loss drug, like Ozempic.
Further investigation by their GP revealed the patient was suffering from stage two stomach cancer.
Dr Ogden added: ‘It’s important to monitor persistent symptoms, keep a log of side effects and seek prompt medical advice if anything unusual rises.’
With all cancers, the disease is easier to treat and has higher chances of survival when caught early before the cancer has spread.
Ana Carolina Gonclaves, a superintendent pharmacist, echoed the warning stating that whilst indigestion, heartburn and abdominal pain are all potential side effects of the jabs, they could also be a sign of deadly liver, bladder, pancreatic or stomach cancer.
She continued: ‘Given the increasing use of weight loss injections in the UK, the potential for confusion is likely growing, especially for cancer symptoms that overlap with common injection side effects.’
She continued: ‘Given the increasing use of weight loss injections in the UK, the potential for confusion is likely growing, especially for cancer symptoms that overlap with common injection side effects.’
‘Thyroid swelling or a lump in the neck might be dismissed as an injection side effect, but it could also indicated thyroid cancer,’ she explained.
Eli Lily and Company, the manufacturers of blockbuster weight loss jab Mounjaro has previously warned that the drug may cause tumours in the thyroid—the small butterfly-shaped gland in the neck—including thyroid cancer.
In an open letter it urged users to ‘watch for possible symptoms’ including a lump or swelling in the neck.
The producers of WeGovy, Novo Nordisk, similarly lists thyroid cancer as a potential side effect.
Ms Gonclaves continued: ‘Nausea is another common side effect of weight loss jabs that can also indicate liver, bladder, or pancreatic cancer.
‘There’s a lot of overlap between the symptoms of different organ cancers, because they affect similar areas of the body.
‘This can make identification of cancer symptoms difficult, especially when side effects of weight loss injections are also present.’
Main symptoms of thyroid cancer include a lump in the throat, which usually feels hard, a hoarse voice, sore throat, difficulty swallowing and pain in the front of the neck
Whilst it is not always possible to know when these symptoms could be a sign of something more serious, doctors advice contacting your GP if you experience any of these adverse side-effects, especially after coming off the drugs.
Kevin Joshua, clinical lead at Juniper—a weight loss medication provider—warned: ‘That danger is that someone may put persistent or worsening symptoms down to the medication, rather than seeing their GP.
‘That missed time can make all the difference in cancer treatment and survival.’
There is currently no substantial evidence that estimates how frequently misattributed to jabs, but doctors warn that if symptoms are persistent, severe or present alongside red-flag warning signs like vomiting blood, blood in the stool, jaundice or a lump, users should always consult a medical professional.
Mr Joshua added: ‘These should never be written off as “just the jab”.’
The warning comes as concerning new research revealed that the jabs may raise the risk of kidney cancer—a ‘silent killer’ now striking more under-50s.
The data comes from the biggest study to-date of patients on weight loss injections, which tracked nearly 44,000 overweight and obese people for up to 10 years.
While the drugs were linked to a 17 per cent lower risk of cancer overall—with big drops in ovarian and womb tumours—researchers also uncovered a disturbing signal for kidney cancer.
Patients on the jabs were about a third more likely to develop the disease than those who did not take them, with the risk highest among the under-65s and people who were overweight.
Doctors warn that by the time tell-tale signs such as blood in the urine, persistent back pain or a lump under the ribs appear, it is often too late for successful treatment.
Almost 14,000 Britons are diagnosed every year, with 4,700 deaths. In the US, there are around 80,000 new cases annually.
If spotted early, three-quarters of patients survive at least five years – but once the cancer has spread, survival drops to just 18 per cent.
