“Cancer is a major public health problem as the leading cause of death. Palliative treatment aimed to alleviate pain and nausea in patients with advanced disease is a cornerstone of oncology.
In 2007, the Israeli Ministry of Health began providing approvals for medical cannabis for the palliation of cancer symptoms. The aim of this study is to characterize the epidemiology of cancer patients receiving medical cannabis treatment and describe the safety and efficacy of this therapy.
Methods
We analyzed the data routinely collected as part of the treatment program of 2970 cancer patients treated with medical cannabis between 2015 and 2017.
Results
The average age was 59.5 ± 16.3 years, 54.6% women and 26.7% of the patients reported previous experience with cannabis. The most frequent types of cancer were: breast (20.7%), lung (13.6%), pancreatic (8.1%) and colorectal (7.9%) with 51.2% being at stage 4. The main symptoms requiring therapy were: sleep problems (78.4%), pain (77.7%, median intensity 8/10), weakness (72.7%), nausea (64.6%) and lack of appetite (48.9%). After six months of follow up, 902 patients (24.9%) died and 682 (18.8%) stopped the treatment. Of the remaining, 1211 (60.6%) responded; 95.9% reported an improvement in their condition, 45 patients (3.7%) reported no change and four patients (0.3%) reported deterioration in their medical condition.
Conclusions
Cannabis as a palliative treatment for cancer patients seems to be well tolerated, effective and safe option to help patients cope with the malignancy related symptoms.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29482741
http://www.ejinme.com/article/S0953-6205(18)30023-2/pdf
“Cannabis to be a “Safe,” “Effective” Medical Treatment in First-of-its-Kind, Peer-Reviewed Study of Thousands of Cancer Patients Using Tikun Olam™ Strains” http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/cannabis-to-be-a-safe-effective-medical-treatment-in-first-of-its-kind-peer-reviewed-study-of-thousands-of-cancer-patients-using-tikun-olam-strains-1017297749
“For the first time, a major scientific study has confirmed what cannabis advocates have known for decades: that cannabis can be a safe and effective palliative treatment in patients suffering from the debilitating effects of cancer.” https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cannabis-to-be-a-safe-effective-medical-treatment-in-first-of-its-kind-peer-reviewed-study-of-thousands-of-cancer-patients-using-tikun-olam-strains-300604361.html
