Survival rate of patients with combined hepatocellular cholangiocarcinoma receiving medical cannabis treatment: A retrospective, cohort comparative study

TL;DR

A study in Thailand found that medical cannabis treatment significantly improved survival rates in advanced cholangiocarcinoma patients compared to standard palliative care.

Contribution

This study is the first to demonstrate a significant survival benefit of medical cannabis in advanced cholangiocarcinoma patients in Southeast Asia.

Findings

Patients receiving medical cannabis had a median survival of 5.66 months versus 0.83 months with standard treatment.

Medical cannabis treatment was associated with a 72% reduced risk of death compared to standard care.

The study highlights medical cannabis as a potential palliative care option for advanced CCA patients.

Abstract

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) incidence in Northeastern Thailand is very high and a major cause of mortality. CCA patients typically have a poor prognosis and short-term survival rate due to late-stage diagnosis. Thailand is the first Southeast Asian country to approve medicinal cannabis treatment, especially for palliative care with advanced cancer patients.

Methods: A retrospective cohort comparative study of survival rates among 491 newly diagnosed advanced CCA patients was carried out between September 1, 2019, and June 30, 2021. A total of 404 patients were in the standard palliative care pain management treatment group (ST), and 87 were in the medicinal cannabis treatment group (CT). Patients with CCA were recruited from four tertiary hospitals and two secondary hospitals in five provinces of Northeast Thailand. The cumulative survival rates were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and independent prognostic factors were investigated using Cox regression.

Results: For ST patients, there was a total follow-up time of 790 person-months, with a mortality rate of 48.35/100 person-months. For CT patients the total follow-up time was 476 person-months, with mortality rate of 10.9/ 100 person-months. The median survival time after registration at a palliative clinic was 0.83 months (95% CI: 0.71–0.95) for ST and 5.66 months (95% CI: 1.94–9.38) for CT. Multivariate analysis showed that CT treatment protocol was associated with a significantly better survival (P value <0.001; median time of CT, 5.66 months (95% CI: 1.94–9.38); median time of ST, 0.83 months (95% CI: 0.71–0.95). Therefore, CT had a reduced probability of dying from the disease (HR
adj., 0.28 (95% CI: 0.20–0.37)

Conclusions: The medical cannabis increased overall survival rates among CCA patients.