CBD found to be safe and contribute to lower overall anxiety levels in breast cancer patients

CBD does not significantly change scan-related anxiety when compared to a placebo, according to a new study.

However, researchers did find that the compound was safe and resulted in significantly lower overall anxiety levels.

Anxiety is extremely common among adults receiving cancer care, with as many as one out of every four patients meeting the clinical criteria for the condition.

Many patients with cancer also experience scan-related anxiety (“scanxiety”), a condition in which individuals develop anxiety related to getting imaging studies to assess the potential spread of cancer, evaluate response to treatment, or investigate cancer-related symptoms.

There are not many good options for managing anxiety outside of benzodiazepines (medications like lorazepam or alprazolam). While benzodiazepines work, they can cause significant complications including falls and oversedation.

This new study explored whether CBD can reduce these anxiety levels, specifically among patients with advanced breast cancer before a scan assessing tumour burden.

The randomised clinical trial compared patients who received 400 mg of CBD compared to patients who received a placebo.

While the study did not meet its primary endpoint of significant difference between groups in anxiety change scores, the researchers did find that anxiety levels were significantly lower two to four hours after ingesting CBD, and that CBD was safe as a treatment for anxiety among patients with breast cancer.

“Our results lay the groundwork for larger, more definitive trials testing CBD in patients with breast cancer and other cancers as a way of reducing anxiety,” said co-first author Peter Chai at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.”

“Our study also demonstrates high levels of interest in clinical trials to test treating anxiety with CBD and highlights the need to conduct follow-up studies to understand how CBD integrates into the armament of therapies to address cancer related anxiety,” said corresponding author Ilana Braun at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

“We recruited patients at the height of the pandemic when clinical trials generally stagnated, but nearly three-quarters of potential participants expressed interest and many referred others to the study.”

According to the researchers, this finding suggests CBD’s potential as an anxiety treatment for women with advanced breast cancer and clinical anxiety, necessitating further investigation.