Medical Cannabis Formulations, Administration Routes, and Dosing: Perspectives of Patients With Cancer Who Consume

Medical cannabis (MC) is used by 1 in 3 patients with cancer. Scientific work suggests a disconnect between patients' cannabis therapeutics practices and oncologists' clinical preferences. This qualitative study explores the preferences of patients with cancer as they relate to MC formulations, administration routes, and dosing.

Semistructured interviews were conducted with patients with cancer consuming MC in 8 states and examined using thematic analysis.

Among study participants (N = 24), the mean age was 54 years, 67% were female, and 51% had metastatic disease. A powerful theme identified across interviews was of myriad MC dispensary product formulations, triggering astonishment and burden. Common strategies among participants included purchasing and sampling multiple store-bought formulations, modifying dispensary products, and altering intended routes of administration. Preferred dispensary products were not consistently available. Top-cited modes of administration included oral, followed by topical, sublingual, vaporization, combustion, and rectal suppository. Three-quarters of participants alternated between modes. Medical cannabis dosing imprecision represented another powerful theme due to the lack of dispensary quality assurance and accuracy in home measurements.

This investigation suggests that MC preparations, dosing, and administration routes vary among patients with cancer, and that common consumption patterns (for instance, reliance on multiple routes of cannabis administration) are not rooted in science. Although these findings should be further interrogated, they suggest a need for lay-facing cannabis therapeutics education and standardization of dispensary products to strengthen cannabis-related care.