Cannabis medicines have been used successfully to treat nausea and vomiting resulting from cancer chemotherapy. They have also potentiated the effects of prescription opioid pain medications in treating cancer pain. They can stimulate appetite, encourage sleep, reduce anxiety and depression, and lift the spirits of patients undergoing cancer treatment, all of which can contribute significantly to quality of life for those living with cancer.35 But cancer treatment also attracts dubious claimants who extend hope to those desperate for any optimism, resulting in claims of cancer cures—for which there is only promising anecdotal evidence. These overstated or outright false claims have recently extended to cannabis medicines and cancer.

In studies of cancer cells and some animal models, cannabinoids have been shown to inhibit tumor growth through a variety of mechanisms, though this antitumor activity has not yet been consistently demonstrated in human clinical trials. The effects include suppression of cancer cell signaling mechanisms, inhibition of both blood vessel growth to the tumor and cancer cell migration, and stimulation of programmed cell death in the cancer cell.36

While there is limited and widely circulated anecdotal evidence for the antitumor effect of cannabis medicines, there is not enough evidence to claim that cannabis is a broadly effective antitumor treatment. Given the complex variation between cancer types, it is likely that cannabinoids could inhibit one cancer, but promote the growth of another. What is also potentially significant in cell studies is the noted difference in dose response. For example, at high doses, cannabinoids such as THC may inhibit or stop the growth of some tumors, but at low doses they appear to encourage the proliferation of the same tumors.37 What can be noted is epidemiological evidence that cannabis use may provide a slight protective effect from developing some cancers, such as head, neck, and lung cancers.38 By contrast, there are some studies that indicate that cannabis users have increased incidence of prostate, cervical, and brain cancers, though this evidence is far from conclusive.39

Description

“Cancer” describes more than 100 diseases in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and invade other types of cells. Cancer is not one disease and different forms require different treatments. Our understanding of cancer has progressed, but examining the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying these diseases—and to the degree required to effect a cure—is an unbelievably complex task.

EFFECTIVENESS

Nausea and vomiting—Chemotherapy, especially with agents such as cisplatin, causes severe nausea and vomiting. Cannabis medicines have been shown to be as effective in relieving chemo-induced vomiting as many conventional antiemetics.40

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