The Effectiveness and Safety of Medical Cannabis for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms in Oncology Patients

Joshua Aviram; Gil M. Lewitus; Yelena Vysotski; Mahmoud Abu Amna; Anton Ouryvaev; Shiri Procaccia; Idan Cohen; Anca Leibovici; Luiza Akria; Dimitry Goncharov; Neomi Mativ; Avia Kauffman; Ayelet Shai; Gil Bar-Sela; David Meiri

doi:10.3389/fpain.2022.861037

The Effectiveness and Safety of Medical Cannabis for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms in Oncology Patients

Joshua Aviram, Gil M. Lewitus, Yelena Vysotski, Mahmoud Abu Amna, Anton Ouryvaev, Shiri Procaccia, Idan Cohen, Anca Leibovici, Luiza Akria, Dimitry Goncharov, Neomi Mativ, Avia Kauffman, Ayelet Shai, Gil Bar-Sela, David Meiri

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The use of medical cannabis (MC) to treat cancer-related symptoms is rising. However, there is a lack of long-term trials to assess the benefits and safety of MC treatment in this population. In this work, we followed up prospectively and longitudinally on the effectiveness and safety of MC treatment. Oncology patients reported on multiple symptoms before and after MC treatment initiation at one-, three-, and 6-month follow-ups. Oncologists reported on the patients' disease characteristics. Intention-to-treat models were used to assess changes in outcomes from baseline. MC treatment was initiated by 324 patients and 212, 158 and 126 reported at follow-ups. Most outcome measures improved significantly during MC treatment for most patients (p < 0.005). Specifically, at 6 months, total cancer symptoms burden declined from baseline by a median of 18%, from 122 (82–157) at baseline to 89 (45–138) at endpoint (−18.98; 95%CI= −26.95 to −11.00; p < 0.001). Reported adverse effects were common but mostly non-serious and remained stable during MC treatment. The results of this study suggest that MC treatment is generally safe for oncology patients and can potentially reduce the burden of associated symptoms with no serious MC-related adverse effects.

Original language	English
Article number	861037
Journal	Frontiers in Pain Research
Volume	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fpain.2022.861037
State	Published - 2022
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Aviram, Lewitus, Vysotski, Amna, Ouryvaev, Procaccia, Cohen, Leibovici, Akria, Goncharov, Mativ, Kauffman, Shai, Bar-Sela and Meiri.

Keywords

cancer
cannabis
medical use
oncology
phytocannabinoids
prospective

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Neuroscience (miscellaneous)
Health Professions (miscellaneous)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.3389/fpain.2022.861037

Cite this

Aviram, J., Lewitus, G. M., Vysotski, Y., Amna, M. A., Ouryvaev, A., Procaccia, S., Cohen, I., Leibovici, A., Akria, L., Goncharov, D., Mativ, N., Kauffman, A., Shai, A., Bar-Sela, G., & Meiri, D. (2022). The Effectiveness and Safety of Medical Cannabis for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms in Oncology Patients. Frontiers in Pain Research, 3, Article 861037. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpain.2022.861037

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title = "The Effectiveness and Safety of Medical Cannabis for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms in Oncology Patients",

abstract = "The use of medical cannabis (MC) to treat cancer-related symptoms is rising. However, there is a lack of long-term trials to assess the benefits and safety of MC treatment in this population. In this work, we followed up prospectively and longitudinally on the effectiveness and safety of MC treatment. Oncology patients reported on multiple symptoms before and after MC treatment initiation at one-, three-, and 6-month follow-ups. Oncologists reported on the patients' disease characteristics. Intention-to-treat models were used to assess changes in outcomes from baseline. MC treatment was initiated by 324 patients and 212, 158 and 126 reported at follow-ups. Most outcome measures improved significantly during MC treatment for most patients (p < 0.005). Specifically, at 6 months, total cancer symptoms burden declined from baseline by a median of 18%, from 122 (82–157) at baseline to 89 (45–138) at endpoint (−18.98; 95%CI= −26.95 to −11.00; p < 0.001). Reported adverse effects were common but mostly non-serious and remained stable during MC treatment. The results of this study suggest that MC treatment is generally safe for oncology patients and can potentially reduce the burden of associated symptoms with no serious MC-related adverse effects.",

keywords = "cancer, cannabis, medical use, oncology, phytocannabinoids, prospective",

author = "Joshua Aviram and Lewitus, {Gil M.} and Yelena Vysotski and Amna, {Mahmoud Abu} and Anton Ouryvaev and Shiri Procaccia and Idan Cohen and Anca Leibovici and Luiza Akria and Dimitry Goncharov and Neomi Mativ and Avia Kauffman and Ayelet Shai and Gil Bar-Sela and David Meiri",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2022 Aviram, Lewitus, Vysotski, Amna, Ouryvaev, Procaccia, Cohen, Leibovici, Akria, Goncharov, Mativ, Kauffman, Shai, Bar-Sela and Meiri.",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.3389/fpain.2022.861037",

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Aviram, J, Lewitus, GM, Vysotski, Y, Amna, MA, Ouryvaev, A, Procaccia, S, Cohen, I, Leibovici, A, Akria, L, Goncharov, D, Mativ, N, Kauffman, A, Shai, A, Bar-Sela, G & Meiri, D 2022, 'The Effectiveness and Safety of Medical Cannabis for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms in Oncology Patients', Frontiers in Pain Research, vol. 3, 861037. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpain.2022.861037

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Effectiveness and Safety of Medical Cannabis for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms in Oncology Patients

AU - Aviram, Joshua

AU - Lewitus, Gil M.

AU - Vysotski, Yelena

AU - Amna, Mahmoud Abu

AU - Ouryvaev, Anton

AU - Procaccia, Shiri

AU - Cohen, Idan

AU - Leibovici, Anca

AU - Akria, Luiza

AU - Goncharov, Dimitry

AU - Mativ, Neomi

AU - Kauffman, Avia

AU - Shai, Ayelet

AU - Bar-Sela, Gil

AU - Meiri, David

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - The use of medical cannabis (MC) to treat cancer-related symptoms is rising. However, there is a lack of long-term trials to assess the benefits and safety of MC treatment in this population. In this work, we followed up prospectively and longitudinally on the effectiveness and safety of MC treatment. Oncology patients reported on multiple symptoms before and after MC treatment initiation at one-, three-, and 6-month follow-ups. Oncologists reported on the patients' disease characteristics. Intention-to-treat models were used to assess changes in outcomes from baseline. MC treatment was initiated by 324 patients and 212, 158 and 126 reported at follow-ups. Most outcome measures improved significantly during MC treatment for most patients (p < 0.005). Specifically, at 6 months, total cancer symptoms burden declined from baseline by a median of 18%, from 122 (82–157) at baseline to 89 (45–138) at endpoint (−18.98; 95%CI= −26.95 to −11.00; p < 0.001). Reported adverse effects were common but mostly non-serious and remained stable during MC treatment. The results of this study suggest that MC treatment is generally safe for oncology patients and can potentially reduce the burden of associated symptoms with no serious MC-related adverse effects.

AB - The use of medical cannabis (MC) to treat cancer-related symptoms is rising. However, there is a lack of long-term trials to assess the benefits and safety of MC treatment in this population. In this work, we followed up prospectively and longitudinally on the effectiveness and safety of MC treatment. Oncology patients reported on multiple symptoms before and after MC treatment initiation at one-, three-, and 6-month follow-ups. Oncologists reported on the patients' disease characteristics. Intention-to-treat models were used to assess changes in outcomes from baseline. MC treatment was initiated by 324 patients and 212, 158 and 126 reported at follow-ups. Most outcome measures improved significantly during MC treatment for most patients (p < 0.005). Specifically, at 6 months, total cancer symptoms burden declined from baseline by a median of 18%, from 122 (82–157) at baseline to 89 (45–138) at endpoint (−18.98; 95%CI= −26.95 to −11.00; p < 0.001). Reported adverse effects were common but mostly non-serious and remained stable during MC treatment. The results of this study suggest that MC treatment is generally safe for oncology patients and can potentially reduce the burden of associated symptoms with no serious MC-related adverse effects.

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KW - cannabis

KW - medical use

KW - oncology

KW - phytocannabinoids

KW - prospective

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U2 - 10.3389/fpain.2022.861037

DO - 10.3389/fpain.2022.861037

M3 - Article

C2 - 35669038

AN - SCOPUS:85139071904

SN - 2673-561X

VL - 3

JO - Frontiers in Pain Research

JF - Frontiers in Pain Research

M1 - 861037

ER -

The Effectiveness and Safety of Medical Cannabis for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms in Oncology Patients

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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