Department of Radiation Oncology, City of Hope National Medical Center, 1500 E Duarte Avenue, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.
Department of Population Sciences, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA.
Support Care Cancer. 2021 Oct;29(10):5991-5997. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06160-6. Epub 2021 Mar 26.
Cancer patients are increasingly incorporating medical marijuana into the management of treatment-related side effects. Currently however, data is limited regarding the risks and benefits of therapeutic cannabis for cancer patients. We sought to characterize radiation oncologists' practices and opinions regarding therapeutic cannabis via a nationwide survey.
An anonymous survey was distributed via email to 873 radiation oncologists in the American Society for Radiation Oncology member database. Radiation oncologists were asked their opinions and practices regarding the use of therapeutic cannabis for their patients. Bivariate analyses of potential predictors for responses were conducted using standard statistical techniques.
One hundred seven radiation oncologists completed the survey. According to the survey, 36% of respondents would recommend therapeutic cannabis to their patients to mitigate treatment toxicity. Physicians practicing in states where medical marijuana is legal were more likely to recommend it compared to physicians working in states that have not legalized medical marijuana (OR = 3.79, 1.19-12.1, p = 0.01). Seventy-one percent of respondents reported therapeutic cannabis as being effective at least some of the time for managing treatment-related toxicities. Fifty-eight percent of physicians reported lacking sufficient knowledge to advise patients regarding therapeutic cannabis, while 86% of respondents were interested in learning more about therapeutic cannabis for cancer patients.
Although a majority of radiation oncologists believe there are benefits to therapeutic cannabis, many are hesitant to recommend for or against its use. Radiation oncologists appear to be interested in learning more about how therapeutic cannabis may play a role in their patients' care.
癌症患者越来越多地将医用大麻纳入治疗相关副作用的管理中。然而，目前关于治疗性大麻对癌症患者的风险和益处的数据有限。我们通过一项全国性调查，旨在描述放疗医师对治疗性大麻的实践和看法。
通过电子邮件向美国放射肿瘤学会成员数据库中的 873 名放疗医师分发匿名调查。放疗医师被问及他们对患者使用治疗性大麻的看法和做法。使用标准统计技术对潜在预测因素进行了双变量分析。
107 名放疗医师完成了调查。根据调查，36%的受访者会建议患者使用治疗性大麻来减轻治疗毒性。与在未将医用大麻合法化的州工作的医生相比，在医用大麻合法的州行医的医生更有可能建议使用它（OR = 3.79，1.19-12.1，p = 0.01）。71%的受访者报告治疗性大麻至少在一段时间内对管理治疗相关毒性有效。58%的医生报告缺乏足够的知识来为患者提供治疗性大麻咨询，而 86%的受访者有兴趣了解更多关于癌症患者使用治疗性大麻的信息。
尽管大多数放疗医师认为治疗性大麻有好处，但许多人对推荐或反对其使用犹豫不决。放疗医师似乎有兴趣了解更多关于治疗性大麻如何在患者治疗中发挥作用的信息。
