Cancer is one of the saddest and most painful things that a patient and their loved ones will ever have to battle. I have personally lost several loved ones in recent years after they battled cancer, and it was heartbreaking to watch from start to finish. The loss of a loved one to cancer is something that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

“In 2022, there were an estimated 20 million new cancer cases and 9.7 million deaths.” writes the World Health Organization about cancer statistics. “The estimated number of people who were alive within 5 years following a cancer diagnosis was 53.5 million. About 1 in 5 people develop cancer in their lifetime, approximately 1 in 9 men and 1 in 12 women die from the disease.”

A common treatment for cancer is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy involves the use of powerful anticancer drugs in an effort to destroy cancer cells and prevent them from multiplying. The treatment comes with several potential side effects, including neuropathic pain.

Investigators based in Israel and affiliated with various health research institutions recently examined the use of medical cannabis therapies and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathic pain (CIPN). The researchers’ findings were published in the academic journal Biomedicines.

“Of 1493 patients, 802 reported at least one CIPN symptom at baseline, including a burning sensation, cold sensation, paresthesia (prickling) and numbness, and 751 of them met the study inclusion criteria. Patients were categorized into THC-high/CBD-low and CBD-high/THC-low groups.” the researchers stated about their methodology. “Symptom changes after six months of cannabis use were analyzed using K-means clustering and logistic regression, incorporating interactions between baseline symptoms and THC and CBD doses. Linear regression assessed changes in activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL).”

“Both groups reported symptom improvement. The THC-high group showed significantly greater improvement in burning sensation and cold sensation (p = 0.024 and p = 0.008). Improvements in ADL and QOL were also significantly higher in the THC group (p = 0.029 and p = 0.006). A significant interaction between THC and CBD was observed for symptom improvement (p < 0.0001).” the researchers found.

“Cannabis effectively reduces CIPN symptoms and improves QOL and ADL. Higher THC doses were more effective than lower doses, with combined CBD and THC doses yielding greater symptom relief.” the researchers concluded.