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Cannabis use after a cancer diagnosis in a population-based sample of cancer survivors

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to characterize the prevalence and correlates of cannabis use and the methods and reasons for use among recently diagnosed cancer survivors in a population sample within Washington state.

Methods

We identified individuals diagnosed with invasive cancers in the prior 6 to 17 months from April 2020 to December 2020 using the Seattle-Puget Sound Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer registry. Participants (n = 1,515) completed a questionnaire, including demographics, medical history, cannabis use, and other substance use. Cancer characteristics and date of diagnosis were obtained from SEER registry data. We calculated weighted prevalence estimates and logistic regression models to evaluate correlates of cannabis use.

Results

Overall, 41.3% of survivors reported cannabis use at any time after diagnosis, most commonly via edibles (60.5%) and smoking (43.8%). The most frequently reported reasons for use were sleep (54.5%), mood, stress, anxiety, and depression (44.3%), pain (42.3%), and recreation (42.3%). Cannabis use was associated with younger age, race (White vs. Asian), less education, former or current smoking, consuming more than 2 alcohol-containing drinks per day, having late-stage cancer, and cancer site.

Conclusion

In this first evaluation of cannabis use in a registry-linked, population-based sample of survivors of all cancer types, based in a state where recreational and medical cannabis have been legal for a decade, approximately 2 in 5 survivors reported post-diagnosis use. Given how common cannabis use is among cancer survivors, there is a great need to understand its impact on cancer treatment outcomes and the overall health of cancer survivors.

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Data availability

De-identified data from this study are not available in a public archive. De-identified data from this study will be made available (as allowable according to institutional IRB standards) by emailing the corresponding author.

Materials availability

Materials used to conduct the study are not publicly available.

Code availability

Analytic code used to conduct the analyses presented in this study are not available in a public archive. They may be available by emailing the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute under Award number: 3P30 CA015704-45S8. This research was supported by the Cancer Surveillance System of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, which is funded by Contract No. HHSN261201800004I; NCI Control Number: N01 PC-2018-00004 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program of the National Cancer Institute with additional support from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and the State of Washington. The authors would also like to thank the generous study participants and research staff (Renae Lydum, Allison Silverman, Adriana Reedy, Tess Schwesinger) for their contributions, as well as Dr. Steven Pergam and Dr. Steven Schwartz.

Funding

Funded by 3P30 CA015704-45S8 and T32 CA916845.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue N, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA

    Mimi Ton, Polly A. Newcomb, Salene Jones, Rachel C. Malen & Jaimee L. Heffner

  2. Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Mimi Ton & Polly A. Newcomb

Authors
  1. Mimi Ton
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  2. Polly A. Newcomb
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  3. Salene Jones
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  4. Rachel C. Malen
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  5. Jaimee L. Heffner
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Contributions

M.T. participated in the data curation, formal analysis, methodology, writing of the original draft, and writing, reviewing, & editing of the manuscript. P.A.N. participated in the conceptualization, funding acquisition, methodology, supervision, and writing, reviewing, & editing of the manuscript. S.J. participated in the conceptualization, funding acquisition, methodology, supervision, and writing, reviewing, & editing of the manuscript. R.C.M. participated in the funding acquisition, methodology, project administration, and writing, reviewing, & editing of the manuscript. J.L.H. participated in the conceptualization, funding acquisition, methodology, supervision, and writing, reviewing, & editing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jaimee L. Heffner.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

Informed consent

All participants provided informed consent.

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Ton, M., Newcomb, P.A., Jones, S. et al. Cannabis use after a cancer diagnosis in a population-based sample of cancer survivors. Cancer Causes Control (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-024-01860-w

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