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Medicinal cannabis offers safe and effective pain relief for cancer patients, a new study has found.
The research, which was published in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, also found that cannabis use can reduce the amount of medication and opioids taken, and could therefore be considered as a complementary treatment option in patients struggling with pain.
Medicinal cannabis and pain relief
Typically, over half of patients undergoing cancer treatment and two thirds of those with advanced or terminal disease experience pain, and while powerful opioids are usually prescribed, one in three patients still experience pain.
Opioids also have a host of side effects including nausea, sleepiness, constipation, and respiratory depression.
So, the researchers wanted to look at whether medicinal cannabis could offer patients with a safe alternative to opioids, or whether it could be offered as a treatment alongside conventional drugs, which could reduce the total number of meds taken.
THC-dominant products were compared to CBD-dominant products
The study involved 358 adult cancer patients. The most common cancer diagnoses were genitourinary, breast, and bowel and the patients average age was 57 (48% men).
For around three quarters of patients (73%), pain was the symptom which prompted a prescription of medicinal cannabis.
The researchers wanted to assess which type of medicinal cannabis was the most effective, so they analysed the effects of THC-dominant, THC:CBD-balanced, and CBD-dominant products separately.
Patients were then followed up over a period of one year, with each monitored once every three months. They were each asked about their pain intensity, symptoms, total number of drugs taken, and daily morphine consumption.
Side effects were rare
Medicinal cannabis seemed to be safe and well tolerated, with only 15 side effects reported by 11 patients, 13 of which were regarded as minor. The most common were sleepiness (reported by 3 patients) and fatigue (reported by 2).
Two serious side effects (pneumonia and a cardiovascular event) were deemed unlikely to have been linked to medicinal cannabis. Only five patients stopped taking medicinal cannabis because of side effects.
Statistically significant decreases were observed at 3, 6 and 9 months for worst and average pain intensity, overall pain severity, and pain interference with daily life, and total number of drugs taken fell consistently at all the subsequent quarterly check-ups, while opioid use fell over the first three check-ups.
THC:CBD balanced products appear to be the most effective pain relief method. These products were associated with better pain relief than either THC-dominant or CBD-dominant products.
While the study cannot establish a cause, the researchers say their study shows that medicinal cannabis is a “safe and complementary treatment option” for patients with cancer failing to reach adequate pain relief through conventional medication, such as opioids.