Study finds marijuana extracts more successful in treating intractable cancer pain than THC alone
A clinical trial published in the Journal of Pain Management found that Sativex, an oral spray that contains natural cannabis extracts, provides significant reduction in cancer pain in comparison to placebo or THC alone. Researchers from the United Kingdom, Belgium and Romania conducted the double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to assess the analgesic properties of Sativex with 177 patients with intractable cancer pain.
In the study, the researchers concluded that the marijuana extracts found in Sativex are more efficacious for the treatment of cancer pain in patients who are not responding well enough to opioid analgesics. There is evidence that there is an additional synergy between THC and CBD that makes Sativex better at treating intractable cancer pain than THC alone.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the recruitment of patients for the first ever U.S. trial of studying the effects of Sativex for cancer pain in 2006. So far, 360 patients have been recruited into the study, and results should be reported in spring 2010. Sativex has legal approval in Canada and is pending regulatory approval in both Great Britain and the European Union.
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