Cannabis Use Disorder Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalizations and 5-Year Mortality.
Cannabis use disorders (CUD) are associated with adverse health effects, including mental disorders and motor vehicle collision-related injuries. However, little is known about whether CUDs are associated with increased mortality risk. To examine whether individuals receiving incident hospital-based care (an emergency department visit or hospitalization) for a CUD is associated with increased risk of death. […]
UK Medical Cannabis Registry: An Analysis of Clinical Outcomes of Medicinal Cannabis Therapy for Cancer Pain.
Cancer pain (CP) is a prevalent condition with limited pharmacotherapeutic options. Cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) have shown analgesic effects, but their efficacy in CP remains contentious. This study aims to evaluate the change in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and adverse events (AEs) in CP patients treated with CBMPs. A case series was conducted using prospectively […]
The impact of cannabis on immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy: a systematic review of immunomodulatory effects of cannabis in patients with and without cancer.
Cannabis is commonly used among patients with cancer for palliative benefit. As the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for cancer therapy increases, there is concern about potential interactions between ICIs and cannabis. Preclinical studies suggest that cannabis leads to immunosuppression, which could impair the function of ICIs. However, only a few clinical studies have […]
Efficacy of cannabinoids for the prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting-a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Cannabinoids have potential efficacy as prophylaxis for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), but no recent meta-analysis has reported on their relative efficacy compared to other antiemetics. The aim of this meta-analysis is to examine the relative efficacy of cannabinoids for prophylaxis of CINV. A literature search was conducted in OVID Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central […]
Impact of endoscopic ultrasound-guided biliary drainage on the management of difficult biliary cannulation in patients with distal malignant biliary obstruction.
Biliary drainage in patients with distal malignant biliary obstruction (DMBO) carries a higher risk of difficult biliary cannulation (DBC) during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). After the failure of standard cannulation, endoscopists may proceed with advanced cannulation techniques and/or with endoscopic ultrasound-guided biliary drainage (EUS-BD).This was a retrospective study of consecutive patients with DMBO and a […]
Adenomyomatosis of distal common bile duct: A case report and systemic review.
Adenomyomatosis is a rare benign condition characterized by epithelial proliferation and diverticular formation in the gastrointestinal tract, most commonly affecting the gallbladder. Its occurrence in the bile duct is uncommon but significant, as it can cause biliary obstruction, cholestasis, and abdominal pain-symptoms that closely mimic early-stage cholangiocarcinoma. This overlap creates diagnostic challenges and increases the […]
High-Potency Cannabis Use and Health: A Systematic Review of Observational and Experimental Studies.
Amid continuously rising concentrations of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in cannabis (i.e., potency), high-potency cannabis is a major topic in contemporary cannabis policy discussions, yet its impact on health is not well understood. The authors conducted a systematic review of observational and experimental studies examining the relationship between high-potency cannabis use and a range of health outcomes. […]
Characterizing the Population of a Medical Cannabis Clinic in a Pediatric Hospital.
Medical cannabis (MC) is increasingly in use due to recent cultural and political changes. Other than patients with Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndrome, there is inadequate literature to provide evidence-based support for prescribing MC in pediatric patients. Characterize the population receiving an MC recommendation in an ambulatory pediatric palliative care setting and quantify patient/family-reported outcomes. Retrospective […]
Cannabis smoking is associated with persistent epigenome-wide disruptions despite smoking cessation.
The use of cannabis has been associated with both therapeutic and harmful effects. As with cigarette smoking, cannabis smoking may affect the epigenetic regulation (e.g., DNA methylation) of gene expression which could result in long term health effects. The study of DNA methylation in cannabis smoking has to date been restricted to young adults and […]
Breast cancer screening among individuals with a substance use disorder: a retrospective cohort study.
There is limited evidence about whether a substance use disorder (SUD) is a barrier to breast cancer screening. Because SUDs are highly prevalent in the USA, it is important to establish whether this patient population is less likely to obtain screening. This retrospective cohort study included 220 227 patients, with 209 132 having no SUD and 11 095 […]
Novel and Effective Blood-Based miRNA Diagnostic Panel for Gastric Cancer: A Pilot Study in a Japanese Population.
Gastric cancer (GC) has a high prevalence in Asian countries, and there is an unmet need for non-invasive and efficient GC screening methods. This study evaluated the diagnostic efficacy of GASTROClear, a panel of blood serum miRNAs for the detection of GC, in a Japanese population. We conducted a pilot cohort study, comprising 103 patients […]
Cannabidiol as a novel therapeutic agent in breast cancer: evidence from literature.
Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, posing significant challenges due to its heterogeneity and the emergence of drug resistance. Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound derived from Cannabis sativa, has recently gained attention for its potential therapeutic effects in breast cancer. This review aims to evaluate the antitumor effects of CBD in […]
Total hospital cost of robot-assisted approach in major urological cancer surgeries.
The aim of this study was to test for differences in total hospital cost (THC) between robot-assisted vs. open partial nephrectomy (PN), radical cystectomy (RC), radical prostatectomy (RP) and radical nephroureterectomy (NU). Within the National Inpatient Sample (2010-2019), we identified all robot-assisted vs. open PN, RC, RP and NU patients. Multivariable Poisson regression models were […]
Cannabinoids for Medical Purposes in Children: A Living Systematic Review.
We developed a living systematic review (LSR) that will continuously map the safety and reported benefit data related to cannabinoid use for medical purposes in children. MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to April 2023. Studies involving at least one child
Targeting Gastrointestinal Cancers with Cannabidiol: Mechanisms, Challenges, and Therapeutic Implications.
Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound derived from cannabis, has gained significant attention for its potential therapeutic effects across various types of cancer. This manuscript presents a systematic review of the current evidence on the application of CBD in gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, with a focus on gastric and colorectal cancers. The review aims to explore CBD’s […]
Systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy of one-step nucleic acid amplification for lymph node metastases of papillary thyroid carcinoma.
To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and detection rate of lymph node metastases (LNM) in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma (PTC) using the One-Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA) technique compared to conventional pathological methods. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science from May 1, 2023, to June 30, 2023, for […]
A population-level analysis on the association of cannabis use and urologic cancers.
While cannabis is the most commonly used illicit substance, studies surrounding its association with urologic cancers are few and limited by small samples, uncontrolled confounders, or infrequent patient cannabis use. We aimed to investigate the association between cannabis use and risk of genitourinary malignancies, using a large claims database. We retrospectively assessed United States adults […]
Oral Cannabis for Taxane-Induced Neuropathy: A Pilot Randomized Placebo-Controlled Study.
Taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy (TIPN) is experienced by most patients with breast cancer, and there is no efficacious treatment. In pre-clinical studies, co-administration of two constituents of cannabis, Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), synergistically reduces TIPN. The goal of this 8-week, double-blind, randomized pilot study, conducted from 2019 to 2021, was to test the feasibility and […]