A new study of medical marijuana patients in Minnesota finds that people with cancer who used cannabis “report significant improvements in cancer-related symptoms.” Nevertheless, it notes that the high cost of marijuana can be burdensome to less financially stable patients and raise “questions about affordability of and access to this therapy.”
The report, published late last month in the journal Cannabis, looked at 220 responses to a survey of patients with cancer enrolled in the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program.
In addition to asking questions about patients’ cancer histories, cannabis use and symptom changes, the survey also included sociodemographic questions.
Results showed that while “the overwhelming majority” of patients reported symptom improvement associated with medical marijuana use, “individuals not living comfortably on their present income had higher monthly out-of-pocket costs for cannabis and were more likely to stop using cannabis or use it less than they would like; and this group more often cited cost as a reason for cannabis use disruptions.”
“Patients with cancer using cannabis report significant improvements in cancer-related symptoms.”
While both the living comfortably (LC) and not living comfortably (NLC) groups “typically used cannabis daily and reported a high degree of symptom improvement,” the study says, patients in the NLC group “more often stopped or used cannabis less frequently as they would like (54% versus 32%), frequently citing costs as a reason (85% vs 39%).”
Patients who were not living comfortably under their current income also tended to be enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis program for longer, make marijuana purchases more frequently and use more high-THC products versus their more financially comfortable counterparts.
Notably, however, researchers observed “no evidence for significant differences in any of the self-reported effects on symptom burden between the LC and NLC groups”:
“Patients with pain, insomnia, and stress (anxiety/depression) had the largest benefit from cannabis use, with patient proportions reporting improvements in these symptoms ranging from 83-91%. The proportion of patients reporting improvements in anorexia and digestive symptoms was 69-80%, and about half of respondents reported improvements in fatigue and neuropathy. Almost no respondents reported that any of these symptoms got worse after cannabis use.”
Authors, from HealthPartners Institute, the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Health, noted in the report that while medical cannabis is increasingly used to manage cancer-related symptoms, insurance companies and healthcare plans “do not reimburse medical cannabis, leaving patients responsible for all associated costs.”
“Together, our findings raise questions around health equity with regards to access to medical cannabis among those with cancer,” the team wrote. “If cannabis is indeed effective to reduce cancer symptoms, all patient groups, and especially those most vulnerable, should have access to cannabis if they wish to, calling for interventions to make medical cannabis more affordable.”
“If cannabis is to be a broadly available way to alleviate symptom burden in patients with cancer,” authors of the new research added, “insurance coverage will ultimately be needed to ensure all patients can access it equally.”
A separate, government report out of Minnesota on chronic pain patients enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program found that participants “are finding a noticeable change in pain relief” within a few months of starting treatment.
The large-scale study of nearly 10,000 patients also showed that nearly a quarter who were taking other pain relievers reduced the use of those drugs after using medical marijuana.
That report also found that among health care practitioners who reported their patient was taking other medications for pain management, nearly a quarter (24.6 percent) “reported a reduction in pain medications in the six months after starting to use medical cannabis.”
Meanwhile, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimated late last year that between about 20 percent and 40 percent of people being treated for cancer are using cannabis products to manage side effects from the condition and associated treatment.
“The growing popularity of cannabis products among people with cancer has tracked with the increasing number of states that have legalized cannabis for medical use,” the agency said. “But research has lagged on whether and which cannabis products are a safe or effective way to help with cancer-related symptoms and treatment-related side effects.”
Included in the research cited in the NCI post was a series of scientific reports published in the journal JNCI Monographs. That package of 14 articles detailed the results of broad, federally funded cannabis surveys of cancer patients from a dozen agency-designated cancer centers across the country—including in areas where marijuana is legal, permitted only for medical purposes or still outlawed.
In all, just under a third (32.9 percent) of patients reported using cannabis, with respondents reporting that they used marijuana primarily to treat cancer- and treatment-related symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, pain and mood changes. The most common perceived benefits “were for pain, sleep, stress and anxiety, and treatment side effects,” the report says.
Separately, another recent study, in the journal Discover Oncology, concluded that a variety of cannabinoids—including delta-9 THC, CBD and cannabigerol (CBG)—“show promising potential as anticancer agents through various mechanisms,” for example by limiting the growth and spread of tumors. Authors acknowledged that obstacles to incorporating cannabis into cancer treatment remain, however, such as regulatory barriers and the need to determine optimal dosing.
Other recent research on the possible therapeutic value of lesser-known compounds in cannabis found that a number of minor cannabinoids may have anticancer effects on blood cancer that warrant further study.
While cannabis is widely used to treat certain symptoms of cancer and some side-effects of cancer treatment, there’s long been interest in the possible effects of cannabinoids on cancer itself.
As a 2019 literature review found, the majority of the studies have been based on in vitro experiments, meaning they did not involve human subjects but rather isolated cancer cells from humans, while some of the research used mice. Consistent with the latest findings, that study found cannabis showed potential in slowing the growth of cancer cells and even killing cancer cells in certain cases.
A separate study found that some cases, different types of cancer cells affecting the same part of the body appeared to respond differently to various cannabis extracts.
A scientific review of CBD last year also touched on “the diverse anticancer properties of cannabinoids” that the authors said present “promising opportunities for future therapeutic interventions in cancer treatment.”
Research published last year also found that marijuana use was associated with improved cognition and reduced pain among cancer patients and people receiving chemotherapy
While cannabis produces intoxicating effects, and that initial “high” can temporarily impair cognition, patients who used marijuana products from state-licensed dispensaries over two weeks actually started reporting clearer thinking, the study from the University of Colorado found.
The National Institutes of Health last October awarded researchers $3.2 million to study the effects of using cannabis while receiving immunotherapy for cancer treatment, as well as whether access to marijuana helps reduce health disparities.
CBD Could Effectively Treat Common Vaginal Infections, Study Concludes
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
A new study of medical marijuana patients in Minnesota finds that people with cancer who used cannabis “report significant improvements in cancer-related symptoms.” Nevertheless, it notes that the high cost of marijuana can be burdensome to less financially stable patients and raise “questions about affordability of and access to this therapy.” The report, published late Read More
