Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk have significant challenges to control their blood glucose, reduce body mass index (BMI) and decrease their risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiovascular death. The discovery and approval of injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) has markedly improved management and outcomes for these patients. The 2025 American Diabetes Association (ADA) Standards of Care in Diabetes recommend T2D patients with or at high risk for ASCVD, heart failure, or chronic kidney disease should be treated with a cardioprotective GLP-1 RA and/or sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor as part of the comprehensive approach to cardiovascular and kidney risk reduction. However, not all patients will self-inject GLP-1RAs on a weekly basis. Having an orally available agent that has shown glycemic control and reduction in cardiovascular risk is a huge therapeutic advance; cardiovascular clinicians caring for these patients need to understand the evidence for the use of an oral GLP-1RA and how it fits into their therapeutic armamentarium for patient treatment. In this symposium, an expert faculty will discuss the data with injectable GLP-1 RAs in ASCVD patients and the place of injectable GLP-1 RAs in reduction of cardiovascular risk. The design, efficacy and safety results from the SOUL trial will be presented, as well as the latest meta-analyses with GLP-1 RAs. Cases of patients with T2D and ASCVD will be presented, and attendees will be provided with best practices incorporating evidence-based clinical decision-making and patient-centered care.
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to: