The use of cannabis to treat patients with cancer has significant medical benefits, according to a recently published review of scientific evidence. Described as the “largest meta-analysis ever conducted on medical cannabis and its effects on cancer-related symptoms,” the study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Oncology last week.
The findings of the review “indicate a strong and growing consensus within the scientific community regarding the therapeutic benefits of cannabis,” the study reads, according to a report from Marijuana Moment, “particularly in the context of cancer.”
A team of researchers from the Hawaii-based Whole Health Oncology Institute and The Chopra Foundation in New York conducted the study. To conduct the research, they completed a meta-analysis of more than 10,000 peer-reviewed research papers encompassing 39,767 data points related to cannabis and various health outcomes.
Characterizing the existing research into the therapeutic potential of medical cannabis as “scattered and heterogeneous,” the authors stated they attempted to “systematically assess the existing literature on medical cannabis, focusing on its therapeutic potential, safety profiles, and role in cancer treatment.”
Cannabis Frequently Used in Palliative Care
The review revealed that the most frequent use of medical cannabis in relation to cancer has been as a palliative treatment for side effects of conventional treatment, such as chemotherapy. Additionally, cannabis is often used to treat the pain associated with cancer and to stimulate the appetite in cancer patients with cachexia, a chronic wasting syndrome.
The study also found that cannabis reduced the proliferation of cancer cells, limited the spread of cancer by inhibiting metastasis, and increased apoptosis, the natural death of cancer cells. It also noted what the release describes as cannabis’s “profound anti-inflammatory effect, a critical factor since inflammation is linked to over 80% of the world’s most debilitating chronic conditions.”
The researchers used sentiment analysis—a method used to determine the tone of written text—to identify “correlations between cannabis use and supported, not supported, and unclear sentiments across multiple categories, including cancer dynamics, health metrics, and cancer treatments,” they noted. The results of the analysis “revealed a significant consensus supporting the use of medical cannabis in the categories of health metrics, cancer treatments, and cancer dynamics.”
“The analysis highlighted the anti-inflammatory potential of cannabis, its use in managing cancer-related symptoms such as pain, nausea, and appetite loss, and explored the consensus on its use as an anticarcinogenic agent,” says the report, adding that the “consistent correlation strengths for cannabis as both a palliative adjunct and a potential anticarcinogenic agent redefine the consensus around cannabis as a medical intervention.”
The meta-analysis “showed that for every one study that showed cannabis was ineffective, there were three that showed it worked,” the Whole Health Oncology Institute said in a press release. “That 3:1 ratio—especially in a field as rigorous as biomedical research—isn’t just unusual, it’s extraordinary.”
The institute added that the “level of consensus found here rivals or exceeds that for many [Food and Drug Administration]-approved medications.”
“The strong consensus supporting the therapeutic use of cannabis, particularly in the context of cancer, suggests that there is a substantial scientific basis for re-evaluating cannabis’ legal status and its classification as a Schedule I substance,” researchers said in the paper.
Review Has Significant Implications for Cancer Care and Research
The authors of the study wrote that the findings “have implications for public health research, clinical practice, and discussions surrounding the legal status of medical cannabis,” noting that the “consistency of positive sentiments across a wide range of studies suggests that cannabis should be re-evaluated within the medical community as a treatment option.”
The researchers concluded that the “consistent pattern among cannabis and cancer treatments suggests a reasonable consensus that the benefits of medical cannabis outweigh the risks.”
Overall, support for medical cannabis in published research was 31.38 times stronger than opposition to it, the analysis found.
“We expected controversy. What we found was overwhelming scientific consensus,” lead author Ryan Castle, head of research at Whole Health Oncology Institute, said in a statement. “This is one of the clearest, most dramatic validations of medical cannabis in cancer care that the scientific community has ever seen.”
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