Cannabis Helps Relieve Cancer Pain, Improve Sleep, May Ease Chemo Brain
People diagnosed with cancer who used cannabis to treat their symptoms and treatment side effects had less pain, used fewer opioids, slept better, and seemed to think more clearly after a few weeks of use, according to two studies.
One study was published on April 26, 2023, by the journal Exploration of Medicine. Read “Cannabis use in cancer patients: acute and sustained associations with pain, cognition, and quality of life.”
The other study was published on May 2, 2023, by the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. Read the abstract of “Medical cannabis is effective for cancer-related pain: Quebec Cannabis Registry results.”
Cannabis and breast cancer
People use cannabis products to manage cancer symptoms, treatment side effects, and other challenges along the cancer journey. The most common reasons people with breast cancer use cannabis are to manage:
pain (including joint and muscle aches, discomfort, and stiffness)
anxiety and stress
insomnia
nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by chemotherapy
Some studies support the use of cannabis for these conditions. Still, because marijuana is federally illegal in the United States, research on cannabis is limited, including research on how it may ease side effects and how it may interact with other medicines.
But as more U.S. states and countries around the world legalize cannabis for either recreational or medical use, there has been an increase in research.
The research on cannabis so far suggests that most of its medical benefits are related to the effects of two main cannabinoids:
THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), which causes the high associated with marijuana
CBD (cannabidiol), which does not cause a high
About the studies
In this very small study, University of Colorado Boulder scientists wanted to see if using edible cannabis products for two weeks could improve pain, cognition, and quality of life in people diagnosed with cancer.
The study included 25 people with an average age of 54.3 years who were diagnosed with cancer:
three had breast cancer
13 were women
12 were receiving chemotherapy
four were receiving immunotherapy
At the beginning of the study, all the people had an exam and completed questionnaires that asked about their:
anxiety symptoms
depressive symptoms
sleep quality
pain intensity
health-related quality of life
cognitive function
The researchers also used standard tools to objectively assess the people’s cognitive function.
After the initial assessment, the people in the study bought edible cannabis products of their choice. People chose a variety of products, including gummies, chocolates, tinctures, pills, and baked goods.
The researchers asked the people to use the edible cannabis products for two weeks and to not use any other cannabis products during this two-week period. The researchers didn’t give the people any specific instructions on dose or how often the people should use the cannabis, telling them to use the products as often as they wanted.
The people took photos of the cannabis products they used, including the state-required labels that list the cannabinoid content of the products. The people used an online calendar to record when and how much of the edible cannabis products they used.
After the two weeks was up, the researchers did a follow-up exam to assess all the same factors.
The people used an edible cannabis product for an average of eight days during the two-week time period and ingested about 8.3 milligrams of THC and 11.6 milligrams of CBD per day.
After using cannabis for two weeks, the people said they had less pain, slept better, and had improved cognition. Some of the objective measures of cognitive function also improved.
The researchers also wanted to assess the effects of cannabis use immediately after the people ate the cannabis products. So they drove a mobile lab, a van nicknamed the cannavan, to each person’s home for a day. The researchers told the people to not use any cannabis on their own the day of their mobile lab appointment. The researchers did physical and cognitive assessments of each person in the van and then told the person to go back in the house and use an edible cannabis product. The researchers did more physical and cognitive assessments one hour and two hours after the people used the cannabis product.
Within an hour of using the cannabis product, people’s pain had eased considerably. They also felt high and had impaired cognition.
“When you’re in a lot of pain, it’s hard to think,” senior author Angela Bryan, PhD, said in a statement. Dr. Bryan is professor of psychology and neuroscience at Colorado University Boulder and a breast cancer survivor. “We found that when patients’ pain levels came down after using cannabis for a while, their cognition got better.
“We thought we might see some problems with cognitive function,” Dr. Bryan continued, noting that both cannabis and chemotherapy have been previously linked to impaired thinking. “But people actually felt like they were thinking more clearly.”
The more people’s pain eased, the better their cognition seemed to be.
People who ingested more CBD, which has known anti-inflammatory properties, reported more improvement in pain and sleep quality.
Although larger studies are needed, the researchers said the results raise an intriguing point: Although some forms and doses of cannabis for pain relief may impair thinking in the short term, some regimens may improve cognition in the long run by reducing pain.
In this small study, the researchers wanted to see if cannabis could ease pain and reduce the number of other medicines people diagnosed with cancer used.
The study included 358 people diagnosed with cancer who were in the Quebec Cannabis Registry. The registry was established to collect information on how people used dried cannabis for medical purposes.
The people’s information was submitted to the registry between May 2015 and October 2018.
Of the people in the study:
more than half (52.2%) were women
16.5% were diagnosed with breast cancer, 16.8% were diagnosed with genitourinary cancer, and 12% each were diagnosed with colorectal, lung, or blood cancer
72.4% had pain as a primary symptom
24.5% used THC-dominant cannabis
37.9% used THC-CBD balanced cannabis
16.4% used CBD-dominant cannabis
57.3% ingested cannabis orally
13.3% inhaled cannabis
24.9% both ingested and inhaled cannabis
Before the people started using cannabis and then every three months for one year, the researchers monitored the people for:
pain levels and pain intensity, scored from zero (no pain) to 10 (worst possible pain)
symptoms
the total number of medicines they took
the amount of morphine they used daily (morphine is an opioid)
The people’s scores for worst pain, average pain, and overall pain severity decreased after they started using cannabis:
worst pain was 5.5 at baseline and 3.6 nine months after they started using cannabis
average pain was 4.1 at baseline and 2.7 nine months after they started using cannabis
overall pain severity was 3.7 at baseline and 2.4 nine months after they started using cannabis
All these differences were statistically significant, which means they were likely due to the cannabis use and not just because of chance.
People who used THC-CBD balanced cannabis had better pain relief than people who used the other two types of cannabis.
About a year after they started to use edible cannabis, about 32% of the people were using fewer medicines than they were before joining the study and about 14% were using less morphine daily.
The researchers said the cannabis seemed to be safe and well tolerated. Only 11 people reported 15 side effects and 13 of those side effects were considered to be minor. The two most common side effects reported were sleepiness, reported by three people, and fatigue, reported by two people.
“We found [medical cannabis] to be a safe and effective treatment option to help with cancer pain relief,” the researchers concluded. “THC-CBD balanced products appear to perform better as compared with THC-dominant and CBD-dominant products. Furthermore, we observed consistent decreases in medication burden and opioid use in our patient population. Hence, our data suggest a role for [medical cannabis] as a safe and complementary treatment option in patients with cancer failing to reach adequate pain relief through conventional analgesics, such as opioids.”
What this means for you
Despite being small, these two studies offer more evidence that cannabis can help relieve pain and improve sleep in people diagnosed with cancer. The smaller of the two studies also suggests that cannabis may help people think more clearly because they’re feeling less pain.
It’s important to remember that cannabis is federally illegal in the United States and many other countries. Because of this, research on cannabis side effects, as well as how it interacts with other medicines, is limited.
If you’re interested in trying cannabis to ease pain or get better sleep, there a number of things to consider or do, including:
finding a doctor who participates in your state or country’s medical cannabis program and is knowledgeable about different strains of cannabis and the conditions they best treat
learning about different cannabis products, as well as the THC-CBD ratio that works best for you
finding a medical cannabis dispensary you’re comfortable with that can answer your questions
talking to other people who have used cannabis for breast cancer side effects
remembering that cannabis isn’t covered by health insurance and can be expensive
Learn more about medical cannabis.
— Last updated on June 20, 2023 at 3:11 PM