Trial reportBMC palliative care2019
Oral medicinal cannabinoids to relieve symptom burden in the palliative care of patients with advanced cancer: a double-blind, placebo controlled, randomised clinical trial of efficacy and safety of cannabidiol (CBD).
Trial report in BMC palliative care, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Indications of Cannabinoids for the Palliation of Cancer-Associated Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current oncology reports · 2025Pooled it
- Medical cannabinoids: a pharmacology-based systematic review and meta-analysis for all relevant medical indications.BMC medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Cannabidiol for Scan-Related Anxiety in Women With Advanced Breast Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Toxicity of Some Natural Products in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Shared genetic architecture of psychoactive substance use and pan-cancer: insights from a large‑scale genome‑wide cross‑trait analysis.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Targeting pancreatic cancer with natural compounds: molecular mechanisms, preclinical evidence, clinical perspectives, and limitations.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Article
- Cannabidiol attenuates lipid metabolism and induces CB1 receptor-mediated ER stress associated apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Cannabidiol promotes apoptosis and downregulation of oncogenic factors.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Investigating endocannabinoid system and subjective responses to exercise in cancer patients: Rationale and future research directions.JSAMS plus · 2024Review
- Cannabidiol Supplements in Romania: Bridging the Gap Between Marketed Claims and Clinical Reality.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol for Pain Treatment-An Update on the Evidence.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Navigating neurological disorders: harnessing the power of natural compounds for innovative therapeutic breakthroughs.EXCLI journal · 2024Review
- Quality of life beyond measure: Advanced cancer patients, wellbeing and medicinal cannabis.Sociology of health & illness · 2023Article
- Cannabidiol for Oral Health: A New Promising Therapeutical Tool in Dentistry.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Cannabinoid consumption among cancer patients receiving systemic anti-cancer treatment in the Netherlands.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2023Article
- Effects of Cannabidiol on Innate Immunity: Experimental Evidence and Clinical Relevance.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- 'What price do you put on your health?': Medical cannabis, financial toxicity and patient perspectives on medication access in advanced cancer.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Article
- Cannabinoids as Prospective Anti-Cancer Drugs: Mechanism of Action in Healthy and Cancer Cells.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite improvements in medical care, patients with advanced cancer still experience substantial symptom distress. There is increasing interest in the use of medicinal cannabinoids, but there is little high quality evidence to guide clinicians. This study aims to define the role of cannabidiol (CBD) in the management of symptom burden in patients with advanced cancer undergoing standard palliative care. METHODS AND
designThis study is a multicentre, randomised, placebo controlled, two arm, parallel trial of escalating doses of oral CBD. It will compare efficacy and safety outcomes of a titrated dose of CBD (100 mg/mL formulation, dose range 50 mg to 600 mg per day) against placebo. There is a 2-week patient determined titration phase, using escalating doses of CBD or placebo to reach a dose that achieves symptom relief with tolerable side effects. This is then followed by a further 2-week assessment period on the stable dose determined in collaboration with clinicians. DISCUSSION: A major strength of this study is that it will target symptom burden as a whole, rather than just individual symptoms, in an attempt to describe the general improvement in wellbeing previously reported by some patients in open label, non controlled trials of medicinal cannabis. Randomisation with placebo is essential because of the well-documented over reporting of benefit in uncontrolled trials and high placebo response rates in cancer pain trials. This will be the first placebo controlled clinical trial to evaluate rigorously the efficacy, safety and acceptability of CBD for symptom relief in advanced cancer patients. This study will provide the medical community with evidence to present to patients wishing to access medicinal cannabis for their cancer related symptoms. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ALCTRN12618001220257 Registered 20/07/2018.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.