QOLP-04. THE EVOLVING ROLE OF COMPLEMENTARY CANNABIS THERAPY IN GLIOBLASTOMA TREATMENT

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests a therapeutic role for cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), to treat glioblastoma (GBM) in cell cultures and animal models. It is unknown if cannabinoids can effectively treat GBM in human patients. METHOD(S): We define therapeutic treatment as ingesting a cannabis oil concentrate of at least 50 mg of cannabinoid per day, for at least one month, while also receiving standard-of-care treatments. In Part 1 of our analysis, two time periods were defined. During Time Period 1 (TP1, 9/1/2014-6/1/2017), 12 GBM patients registered for CT MMP. During Time Period 2 (TP2, 6/1/2017- 6/1/2018), 11 GBM patients registered for CT MMP. Data includes patient age, gender, ethnicity, tumor characteristics, cannabis treatment strategy (low use, palliative, or therapeutic), when the patient initiated cannabis relative to the diagnosis date, and overall survival (OS). In Part 2, we evaluated OS at 1 and 2 years in patients who used therapeutic cannabis, compared to those who had low or palliative use. RESULT(S): During TP1, 6 patients used therapeutic cannabis. 5 patients are still alive (median of 25.4 months from diagnosis). 7 patients were male, with median age of 53 (range 17-74). During TP2, 9 patients used therapeutic cannabis. 6 patients are still alive (median of 8.8 months from diagnosis). 9 patients were female, with median age of 65 (range 50-78). Among the 23 patients who registered for CT MMP, therapeutic cannabis use was associated with increased OS at 1 year (80% vs 74%, p=0.03), and increased OS at 2 years (73% vs 65%, p=0.002) compared to low or palliative use. Therapeutic cannabis therapy was well tolerated, with no significant adverse events. CONCLUSION(S): Therapeutic cannabis therapy can be integrated into standard-of-care treatments for GBM. Our data suggest that there may be a survival benefit. Further research studies of cannabis are warranted.