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Prevalence, reasons for use, perceived benefits, and awareness of health risks of cannabis use among cancer survivors – implications for policy and interventions

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Abstract

Background

There is increasing discourse on the use of cannabis as a palliative for cancer/cancer-treatment-related symptoms. We described the prevalent reasons for use, perceived benefits, and awareness of health risks from cannabis use for cancer management among cancer survivors.

Methods

Cross-sectional survey of adult (≥ 18 years) cancer survivors from 41 US states receiving treatment at a comprehensive cancer center.

Results

Of 1,886 cancer survivors included, 17.4% were current users, 30.5% were former users, and 52.2% were never users of cannabis. Among survivors who currently or formerly used cannabis after their cancer diagnosis (n = 510), the reasons for cannabis use in cancer management were; sleep disturbance (60%), pain (51%), stress (44%), nausea (34%), and mood disorder/depression (32%). Also, about a fifth (91/510) of survivors used cannabis to treat their cancer. Across the different symptoms assessed, over half of the survivors who reported a reason for using cannabis currently or after their cancer diagnosis perceived that cannabis was helpful to a great extent in improving their symptoms. However, of the 167 survivors who reported awareness of potential health risks from cannabis use, the awareness of adverse health risks associated with cannabis use was low: suicidal thoughts (5%), intense nausea and vomiting (6%), depression (11%), anxiety (14%), breathing problems (31%), and interaction with cancer drugs (35%).

Conclusion

Prevalence of cannabis use among survivors was notable, with most reporting a great degree of symptomatic improvement for the specified reason for use. However, only a few were aware of the health risks of cannabis use during cancer management.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

With more cancer survivors using cannabis as a palliative in managing their cancer-related symptoms, future guidelines and policies on cannabis use in cancer management should incorporate cannabis-based interventions to minimize the inadvertent harm from cannabis use during cancer treatment among survivors.

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Data availability

Data is available from the corresponding author on request.

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Funding

The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute (P30CA016672 to S. Shete), the Betty B. Marcus Chair in Cancer Prevention (to S. Shete), and the Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment (S. Shete).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Ikponmwosa Osaghae, Onyema Greg Chido-Amajuoyi & Sanjay Shete

  2. Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Rajesh Talluri & Sanjay Shete

  3. Department of Data Science, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA

    Rajesh Talluri

  4. Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Pressler Dr., FCT4.6002, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Sanjay Shete

Authors
  1. Ikponmwosa Osaghae
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  4. Sanjay Shete
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Contributions

Ikponmwosa Osaghae: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing. Onyema Greg Chido-Amajuoyi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing-review & editing. Rajesh Talluri: Formal analysis, Writing-review & editing. Sanjay Shete: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing-review & editing, Funding acquisition, Supervision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanjay Shete.

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The funders were not involved in the study design, analysis, interpretation of data, or manuscript writing.

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Osaghae, I., Chido-Amajuoyi, O.G., Talluri, R. et al. Prevalence, reasons for use, perceived benefits, and awareness of health risks of cannabis use among cancer survivors – implications for policy and interventions. J Cancer Surviv (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-023-01526-7

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