Cancer patients of all ages are asking their clinicians for medicinal cannabis – with around one in four patients believing it will help in control or cure the cancer, a Victorian study has found.
Pain, nausea and loss of appetite were the main reasons cited by patients for requesting information of a prescription for medicinal cannabis, a study involving 28 palliative care specialists and trainees at three Victorian centres found.
But their consultation records for 104 cancer patients – of whom 87% had metastatic disease – revealed that 26 patients (25%) intended to use medicinal cannabis for cancer control or cancer cure.
The study, led by Stacey Panozzo of the Parkville Integrated Palliative Care Service, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, investigated the characteristics and medicinal cannabis requests of 1700 patients with breast, colorectal, melanoma and oesophageal cancer patients attending the centres over a six month period in 2018-2019.
Of the 104 consultations that reported a discussion about medicinal cannabis, 60% involved requests for more information and 40% were requests for a prescription. Almost all discussions (93%) were initiated by the patient or carer. The average age of the patients was 51 years, indicating that it was not just young patients who had an interest in using medicinal cannabis.
The most common reasons for intended use of medicinal cannabis were pain (64%), nausea (48%) and appetite (35%), whereas only 5% intended to use it of anxiety/sleep and 3% for mood/relaxation.
About a quarter of the consultations (27%) resulted in a prescription for medicinal cannabis. But 29% of patients said they were already sourcing their own supply of cannabis, mostly cannabis oil/product (60%), with only 17% using cannabis dried leaf/bud product.
The study authors said the wide interest in the use of medicinal cannabis across age groups may be prompted by high levels of media coverage heightening community awareness.