Understanding whether medicinal cannabis helps alleviate the symptoms and side effects of chemotherapy
About the study
Chemotherapy is commonly used to treat cancer. However, it can damage healthy tissues of the body, causing symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, pain, and difficulty eating. These side effects can affect your sleep, energy, and overall wellbeing. These symptoms make daily life more challenging and prevent people from being able to tolerate their chemotherapy.
This clinical trial (CANCAN) is exploring whether medicinal cannabis can help alleviate these symptoms and improve quality of life during chemotherapy treatment.
Participants will be given medicinal cannabis to take daily as a rapidly dissolving tablet under the tongue. They will be asked to take the medicinal cannabis for three full cycles of chemotherapy, during which they will be required to report the severity of their symptoms using simple questionnaires. Blood, saliva and stool (faeces) will also be collected from people who are willing.
Eligibility requirements
- >18 years of age
- All genders (females cannot be pregnant)
- Scheduled to receive, or currently receiving, chemotherapy for solid cancers
Recruitment timeline
Recruitment is currently open in key South Australian hospitals.
End of recruitment: May 2028.
Benefits
Participants will not be paid for their involvement in the trial. However, they may benefit by having access to a study medication that could help reduce some severe side effects that chemotherapy may cause.
There are no out-of-pocket costs associated with participating in this clinical trial including the research tests, use of the secure website link to access questionnaires or provision of the study medication.
Contact details
Interested in participating? Please express your interest via the link below.