The Medical Necessity for Medicinal Cannabis: Prospective, Observational Study Evaluating the Treatment in Cancer Patients on Supportive or Palliative Care

Table 1

Characteristics and demographics of patients included in the study, according to their referring physicians’ reports and comparing the groups of continuous treatment to early determination.

	All patients	Continuous cannabis use	Early determination	𝑃 value
No. of patients	211	106	25
Age:
≤30 years; 31–70 years; ≥71 years	29 (14%); 117 (55%); 65 (31%)	19 (18%); 58 (54%); 29 (28%)	1 (4%); 15 (60%); 9 (36%)	0.12
Gender:
Male; Female	126 (60%); 85 (40%)	65 (59%); 45 (41%)	11 (44%); 14 (56%)	0.18
Academic studies	108 (51%)	61 (56%)	15 (60%)	0.98
Reasons for cannabis use (physician’s recommendation)
Previous treatment not satisfactory; Others	152 (72%); 59 (28%)	94 (87%); 12 (13%)	11 (44%); 14 (56%)	<0.001
Primary tumor:
Lung; Breast; Gastrointestinal; Hematological; Other	45 (21%); 20 (9%); 55 (27%); 27 (12%); 54 (31%)	18 (17%); 12 (11%); 36 (34%); 16 (15%); 22 (23%)	7 (28%); 3 (12%); 4 (16%); 2 (8%); 9 (36%)	0.2
CNS involvement	20 (9%)	5 (5%)	6 (24%)	0.006
Oncology treatment aim:
Curative/adjuvant; Palliative	99 (47%); 112 (53%)	56 (53%); 50 (47%)	13 (52%); 12 (48%)	0.99
Chemotherapy during last 3 months	156 (74%)	81 (75%)	18 (72%)	0.80
Radiotherapy during last 3 months	51 (24%)	23 (21%)	7 (28%)	0.59
Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting	48 (23%)	33 (31%)	2 (8%)	0.002
Fatigue	93 (44%)	46 (43%)	9 (36%)	0.65
Anorexia/weight loss	104 (49%)	59 (55%)	6 (24%)	0.007
Depression/anxiety	72 (34%)	40 (37%)	7 (28%)	0.49
Opioid use	110 (52%)	60 (56%)	12 (48%)	0.51
Anti-depressant/anxiety use	76 (36%)	44 (42%)	6 (24%)	0.34
Steroid use	96 (45%)	49 (45%)	9 (36%)	0.50