In cancer patients, the use of therapeutic cannabis not only reduces pain, but also the need for opioid analgesics.
- In France, experimentation with medical cannabis was launched in March 2021 at Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital.
- Some 3,000 patients will thus be monitored in 215 voluntary structures selected by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM).
Authorized in France by decree since March, the cultivation of cannabis for medical use is well established in several American states and greatly benefits oncology patients. According to a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Pain Researchit could even be considered as an alternative to the painkillers usually prescribed to cancer patients.
An alternative treatment to opioids
Indeed, pain, but also depression, anxiety and insomnia are among the most fundamental causes of disability and suffering of cancer patients during treatment therapies. These conditions can even lead to a worsening of the prognosis.
“Traditionally, cancer pain is primarily treated with opioid analgesics, but most oncologists perceive opioid treatment as dangerous, so alternative therapies are needed”says author David Meiri, assistant professor at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.
The research was conducted with cancer patients who were looking for alternative options to relieve pain and symptoms.
Before starting treatment, all completed anonymous questionnaires. They refilled it several times after starting the experiment. These questionnaires asked about measures of pain, consumption of analgesics, burden of cancer symptoms, sexual problems and side effects.
A marked improvement in symptoms
The results obtained show that the use of therapeutic cannabis contributes to a reduction in pain and symptoms of cancer. In addition, the use of opioids and other analgesics has decreased: almost half of the patients followed have even stopped all analgesic medication after six months of cannabis treatment.
Cannabis also had positive effects on appetite loss but, as Professor Meiri notes, most of the patients in this study still lost weight. “As a significant portion of them have been diagnosed with progressive cancer, weight loss is expected as the disease progresses”he points out.
“Interestingly, we found that sexual function improved for most men but deteriorated for most women”continues the researcher, who now wishes to carry out further work to examine the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis in different groups of cancer patients.
