Research findings suggest that medical cannabis can safely relieve cancer pain while reducing the total number of drugs and opioids used.
Data show that products with equal amounts of CBD and THC active ingredients, rather than a dominance of either, are particularly effective.
Researchers conclude that medical cannabis is a safe treatment solution when conventional drugs are unable to alleviate cancer pain.
More than half of patients receiving anticancer treatment and 2/3 of those with terminal or advanced disease suffer from pain.
Strong opioids, along with other medications, including anticonvulsants and anti-inflammatory drugs, are commonly prescribed to relieve pain.
But 1 in 3 still suffer from pain in addition to opioid side effects such as respiratory depression, constipation, drowsiness and nausea.
The researchers therefore wanted to find out if medical cannabis could effectively and safely alleviate cancer pain while reducing the amount of opioids and medications used.
The treatment responses of 358 people with cancer whose information was submitted to a multicenter registry over a 3.5-year period were examined.
The average age of the individuals was 57; almost half were men. and the 3 most commonly diagnosed cancers: colon, breast, and genitourinary. Pain was the most common symptom that led to a medical prescription for cannabis.
THC:CBD-balanced, CBD-dominant and THC-dominant products were approved by 38%, 16.5% and 24.5% of individuals. Oral use of the product was the most commonly recommended option.
The total number of drugs used, symptoms, pain intensity, and daily morphine use were monitored every 3 months for a year.
Pain intensity was assessed on a sliding scale from no pain at 0 to worst pain at 10, and pain relief from 0% to complete pain relief at 100%, with 2 summary measures of pain severity and pain interference. during the previous 24 hours.
Medical cannabis appears to be well tolerated and safe, with only 15 moderate to severe side effects in 11 individuals, 13 of which were considered minor. The 2 most common side effects were somnolence in 3 people and fatigue in 2 people.
Two serious side effects, a cardiovascular event and pneumonia, were considered unlikely to be related to medical cannabis. Only 5 people stopped using medical cannabis because of side effects.
The particularly good safety profile of medical cannabis observed may be due in part to the careful supervision of the health experts who directed, authorized and supervised the treatment in this study.
Statistically significant reductions were observed at 3, 6, and 9 months for total pain severity, average and worst pain intensity, and pain interference with daily living.
THC:CBD-balanced products are generally associated with improved pain relief compared to either CBD-dominant or THC-dominant products.
The total number of medications used was also consistently reduced at all follow-up 3-month visits, with a reduction in opioid use compared to the 1st 3 visits.
This is an observational study and therefore cannot confirm the cause. Also, a significant number of individuals were lost to the 12-month follow-up, while data on the use of other prescribed medications were limited to discontinuation or addition.
However, the data show the role of medical cannabis as a safe and complementary treatment solution for people with cancer who cannot achieve pain relief equivalent to conventional pain relievers, which include opioids.
Image by 7raysmarketing from Pixabay
Want to use our images on your website? Right click on the image to paste the code