ASPO Abstracts
Cannabis use after recent colorectal cancer diagnosis
Category: Survivorship & Health Outcomes/Comparative Effectiveness Research, Lifestyles Behavior, Energy Balance & Chemoprevention
Conference Year: 2018
Abstract Body:
Background. Recent changes in state-level policies have made cannabis (i.e., marijuana) increasingly accessible to cancer patients and survivors. Limited human studies indicate that certain compounds in cannabis (i.e., cannabinoids) may improve management of chemotherapy-associated nausea, appetite, and pain. In vitro and in vivo animal studies suggest that some cannabinoids may also have anti-tumor effects. Methods. We examined cannabis use in our ongoing study of incident colorectal cancer (CRC) cases identified from the Seattle-Puget Sound SEER in 2016-2017 (N=656, ~65% of eligible). Medicinal and recreational cannabis use has been legal in Washington State since 1998 and 2012, respectively. All cases completed a risk-factor questionnaire eliciting information on medical history, demographic, and lifestyle factors. The interview included several basic questions regarding cannabis use: ever use, use within the past 30 days (current use), and mode and reason for use within past 30 days. Tumor clinical characteristics were obtained from the SEER registry. Univariate analyses only are described. Results. Cannabis use was reported by 48% of study participants; among ever users, 44% were also current users. Ever cannabis users were younger (P=0.007) and more likely to be male (P<0.001) than never users; similar patterns were observed in current users. Among current users, reasons for use included: management of stress (54%), sleep (49%), and pain (46%), as well as recreation (41%). There were significant differences in the distribution of stage at diagnosis according to cannabis use history. In particular, current users were more likely to be diagnosed with advanced (i.e., SEER- coded regional or distant stage) disease (79.9%) compared to never users (51.4%; P=0.001). Conclusion. Our results show that the legal use of cannabis among CRC patients in this population is relatively common, and that patterns of cannabis use differ significantly by age and stage at CRC diagnosis. Our future work, including multivariate approaches, will respond to the significant and growing need for scientific information on the relationship between cannabis use after cancer diagnosis with symptom management and subsequent outcomes, such as recurrence and survival.
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