Cannabis for Breast Cancer

 

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An October 2021 peer-reviewed research study entitled "A Cannabis Survey Study of Breast Cancer Patients' Use of Cannabis Before, During, and After Treatment" that was published in the journal Cancer investigated the reasons that some breast cancer patients use cannabis and their perceived benefits from it.

"The goal of this study was to characterize cannabis use among patients with breast cancer, including their reasons for and timing of use, their sources of cannabis information and products, their satisfaction with the information found, their perceptions of its safety, and their dialogue about cannabis with their physicians," reported the study's authors.

According to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, "after skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in women in the United States." The famous clinic explained that breast cancer "can occur in both men and women, but is far more common in women."

According to Breastcancer.org, the disease "is always caused by a genetic abnormality (a 'mistake' in the genetic material)." However, the organization noted that only "5-10 percent of cancers are due to an abnormality inherited from your mother or father. Instead, 85-90 percent of breast cancers are due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and the 'wear and tear' of life in general."

The design of this research was that of a self-reported and anonymous online survey involving 612 participants who were U.S.-based members of the BreastCancer.org and Healthline.com communities "with a self-reported diagnosis of breast cancer within five years."

Slightly fewer than half of the study participants (42 percent) employed cannabis "for relief of symptoms." Of these cannabis consumers, the following percentages used cannabis for particular symptoms:

Anxiety (57 percent) 

Insomnia (70 percent) 

Nausea/vomiting (46 percent) 

Pain (78 percent)

Stress (51 percent) 

In addition, 49 percent of the cannabis user group "believed that medical cannabis could be used to treat cancer itself." Seventy-nine percent of cannabis users "had used it during treatment, which included systemic therapies, radiation, and surgery." Despite this, only 39 percent had discussed their cannabis usage with their primary care physicians.

The study found that of participants who used cannabis for their breast cancer, most used it during "active cancer treatment despite the potential for an adverse event during this vulnerable time." Most participants perceived their cannabis use to be safe. Most also were "unaware that product quality varied widely and depended on the source."

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