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Raising awareness: The implementation of medical cannabis and psychedelics used as an adjunct to standard therapy in the treatment of advanced metastatic breast cancer

Rayyan Zafar, Dustin Sulak, Jaime Brambila, David Nutt, Anne Katrin Schlag

Drug Science, Policy and Law 2022 DOI: 10.1177/20503245221114323 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Case study Case report Peer reviewed
Sample size 1
Population A 49-year-old woman with ER+, PR-, HER2+, BRCA- invasive ductal carcinoma with bone, liver, and lymph node metastases
Interventions targeted chemotherapy ketogenic diet psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy
Dose high-dose protocol of mixed CBD and THC (titrated); psilocybin at macro and intermittent micro-doses
Duration Five-month treatment period, with follow-up at one year and 18 months
Topics Cannabis Psychedelic-assisted therapy
Keywords Breast cancer Regimen Disease Oncology Chemotherapy Surgery
Citations 3
Key findings After five months of adjunctive high-dose cannabinoid therapy and psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy, PET/CT showed no evidence of metastatic disease, and recurrence at 18 months was followed by receding cancer progression after the cannabis dose was returned to the initial protocol.

Abstract

A 49-year-old woman was diagnosed with an ER + , PR-, HER2 + , BRCA- invasive ductal carcinoma which progressed metastatically to include bone, liver, and lymph node involvement. Standardised care included a 26-month treatment period with targeted chemotherapy and a ketogenic diet. The patient also began a course of cannabinoid-based therapy, consisting initially of a titrated high-dose protocol of mixed cannabidiol (CBD) and d9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) chemotypes, as well as psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy at macro and intermittent micro-doses. At the end of the five-month treatment period PET/CT investigations revealed no evidence of metastatic disease and chemotherapy was withdrawn. A one year follow up CT investigation concluded no evidence of residual or recurrent disease. A recurrence of disease was noted at 18 months follow up. Over these 18 months the cannabis regimen was titrated down to 60% of the initial protocol. This was subsequently increased to the initial dosing protocol following detection of recurrent disease and this titration occurred over a 10-month period where it remained stable. 16 months following the detection of recurrence of disease, favourable results were observed in the patient with evidence of receding cancer progression. Over the last 15 years there has been a considerable body of in-vitro and in-vivo evidence supporting the anti-neoplastic properties of cannabinoids and more recently psychedelics. Indeed, growing anecdotal and real-world evidence is reported of the therapeutic effect of cannabinoids and psychedelics in reducing both tumour proliferation and aiding as a palliative medicine to treat pain and psychological distress associated with cancer and chemotherapy. The data presented here indicate the potential therapeutic utility of such adjunctive pharmacological interventions in an individual with metastatic breast cancer.

Comparable studies

Other case reports and case series on cannabis, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Psychotic Reactions Following Cannabis Use in East Indians Patients at an Indian drug addiction clinic who developed acute cannabis-related psychosis 1974 Descriptive report (case series of clinical observations) n = 200
Psychiatric effects of cannabis use Swedish cases of cannabis psychosis 1985 Case series n = 70
Forty-Six Cases of Psychosis in Cannabis Abusers Gunila Bernhardson Habitual cannabis users treated for psychosis at Swedish psychiatric clinics and mental... 1972 Case series (retrospective survey of psychiatric records) n = 46
Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder after psilocybin consumption: a case study 18-year-old man with HPPD after mixed psilocybin and cannabis intoxication 2005 Case study n = 1
Cannabis‐induced Koro in Americans American men aged 22-26 with years of cannabis experience who reported negative... 2001 Case series n = 3

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Cannabis Psychedelic-assisted therapy CBD End-of-life distress Microdosing Psilocybin