Marijuana — any evidence of survival benefit?
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Marijuana — any evidence of survival benefit?

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Marijuana — any evidence of survival benefit?

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    • April 14, 2017 at 10:20 pm
    Spl25
    Participant

    Has anyone on the boeard seen any (even somewhat reliable) evidence regarding marijuana use and immunotherapy or targeted therapy one way or the other? Most of the studies and theories deal with pain management and healing etc., but pot, like almost everything else, probably has some effect on the immune system, be it positive or negative. 

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      • April 14, 2017 at 10:41 pm
      Cindyco
      Participant

      My mom was on high dose THC and CBD oils for a while for pain and sleeping purposes, and since she was taking such high doses anyway (she couldn't take regular pain medication because it made her constipated), we upped the dosage to 1 gram/day just to see if it would do anything.  When her pain was the worst, she definitely took more than amount a day for probably 4 months.  She did have progression, so I don't actually know if it did anything for her cancer. 

      However, we did find it to be positive for pain management and helping her sleep.  With the oils, she slept for 8+ hours regularly while on high dose steroids and did not have any problems.  Currently, she doesn't need any pain meds and she is taking Lorazapan for sleeping because her doctor doesn't want her to currently use any supplements that might interfere with treatment.  With the Lorazapan, she only sleeps about 3-6 hours/night if lucky even though she is on less steroids.  So all in all, we still thought the oils were a net positive.

        • April 15, 2017 at 12:31 am
        Spl25
        Participant

        That's really great — especially if she was able to avoid the weird side effects of opioids and benzos for sleep. Was it rapid progression during that period?

        • April 15, 2017 at 3:50 am
        Cindyco
        Participant

        Yes, she actually progressed to stage 4 with 50 new lung nodules within 3 months.  It was very frightening. She had one dose of Keytruda at the time, but had to stop due to high liver numbers. Because of that, she is now doing Abraxane, which she is tolerating well.

      • April 15, 2017 at 3:02 am
      miaka618
      Participant

      I'm actually curious about this as well. People keep telling me that it will cure me, but I haven't seen any hard evidence about it.

      • April 15, 2017 at 3:23 am
      jennunicorn
      Participant

      There is NO evidence that shows cannabis will kill cancer cells. It CAN help with side effects like pain, nausea, loss of appetite, etc. Until it becomes federally legal, there can be no actual clinical trials to test the theory that cannabis cures cancer. My family is always trying to push me toward it. I smoked a lot of pot back in the day… but I ended up with cancer.. I don't feel like trying something that has no proof other than anecdotal stories on the internet. The internet also says ginger, coffee, green tea, and a host of other natural things will cure cancer… and anyone with half a brain knows that's all bogus!

        • April 15, 2017 at 6:53 pm
        Spl25
        Participant
        • April 15, 2017 at 7:57 pm
        jennunicorn
        Participant

        That link doesn't work but… yes it has been tested and showed some help In MICE, not humans. Many things have worked on mice that have not worked in humans. Don't think MD Andersen is prescribing a turmeric, ginger, coffee diet in lieu of proven immunotherapies. If the future holds truth with these natural cheap remedies, that would be awesome. Until then, we should stick to what we know for sure works in people.

        • April 15, 2017 at 8:36 pm
        Spl25
        Participant

        Here's some data (no blinded clinical trial though) on Turmeric in humans https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/turmeric — as noted elsewhere, it's unlikely that the US medical system is going to pour tons of money into an unpatentable treatment. Many doctors openly encourage use of turmeric or even NSAIDs, albeit not in lieu of proven therapies. I'm not trying to be argumentative here, but I think its important to draw a distinction between "has a theoretical useful mechanism of action and/or some basic data to support" and "junk science." Cheers. 

        • April 15, 2017 at 7:59 pm
        Gene_S
        Participant

        You don't smoke cannabis for cancer.  You ingest the oils to get the needed type help.

        • April 15, 2017 at 8:01 pm
        Gene_S
        Participant

        You will never see a clinical trial for this as the Big Pharma would not be able to make big bucks from it.

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