Chapman Stacy, Protudjer Jennifer, Bourne Cathy, Kelly Lauren E, Oberoi Sapna, Vanan Magimairajan Issai
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Section of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, CancerCare Manitoba, ON-2038, 675 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg, MB, R3E 0V9, Canada.
Support Care Cancer. 2021 Nov;29(11):6589-6594. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06202-z. Epub 2021 May 1.
There are minimal data regarding the safety and efficacy of cannabis used as an anti-cancer agent or for symptom management in pediatric oncology. We aimed to characterize the prevalence and factors associated with the use of cannabis for the treatment of cancer and management of cancer-related symptoms in children during or after cancer treatment.
An anonymous 40 question paper survey was offered to patients/caregivers of children with cancer attending a pediatric oncology clinic in a provincially mandated cancer agency between October 2019 and March 2020.
There were 64 respondents included in the analysis. Fourteen participants (N=14/64; 22%) reported use of cannabis, of which half used cannabis for either cancer treatment or symptom management, or both. Leukemia (n=9/14; 64%) was the most frequent diagnosis in children whose caregivers reported using cannabis and the majority of them were still receiving active cancer treatment (N= 5/9; 56%). All of the respondents using cannabis (14/14, 100%) experienced symptom improvement. Most of the caregivers procured cannabis from their friends (N=5/14; 36%), and oil was the most commonly used formulation (N=12/14; 86%). Cannabis-related information was received from another parent (N=4/14; 29%) or from a doctor (N=4/14; 29%). The reported monthly expenditure on cannabis varied widely from less than $50 CAD (N=4/14; 29%) to more than $500 CAD (N=3/14; 21%).
Our survey shows that cannabis, mostly oil products, was used by one-fifth of children with cancer during or after the completion of cancer treatment. These findings require validation in a larger nationwide survey.
关于大麻用作抗癌药物或用于儿科肿瘤症状管理的安全性和有效性的数据极少。我们旨在描述在癌症治疗期间或之后，儿童使用大麻治疗癌症和管理癌症相关症状的患病率及相关因素。
在2019年10月至2020年3月期间，向一家省级癌症机构的儿科肿瘤门诊就诊的癌症患儿的患者/护理人员提供了一份40个问题的匿名纸质调查问卷。
分析纳入了64名受访者。14名参与者（N = 14/64；22%）报告使用过大麻，其中一半将大麻用于癌症治疗或症状管理，或两者皆用。白血病（n = 9/14；64%）是护理人员报告使用大麻的儿童中最常见的诊断，其中大多数仍在接受积极的癌症治疗（N = 5/9；56%）。所有使用大麻的受访者（14/14，100%）症状均有改善。大多数护理人员从朋友处获得大麻（N = 5/14；36%），油剂是最常用的剂型（N = 12/14；86%）。大麻相关信息来自另一位家长（N = 4/14；29%）或医生（N = 4/14；29%）。报告的每月大麻支出差异很大，从不到50加元（N = 4/14；29%）到超过500加元（N = 3/14；21%）不等。
我们的调查显示，五分之一的癌症患儿在癌症治疗期间或结束后使用过大麻，主要是油剂产品。这些发现需要在更大规模的全国性调查中进行验证。
