{"id":17985,"date":"2024-09-29T16:53:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-29T15:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=17985"},"modified":"2024-10-22T20:21:36","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:21:36","slug":"daily-marijuana-use-linked-to-increased-risk-of-deadly-head-and-neck-cancers-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2024\/09\/daily-marijuana-use-linked-to-increased-risk-of-deadly-head-and-neck-cancers-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily marijuana use linked to increased risk of deadly head and neck cancers, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By <\/span>Sandee LaMotte<\/span>, CNN\u00a0 \/ <\/span>Sat August 10, 2024<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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Using marijuana daily<\/a>\u00a0for years may raise the overall risk of\u00a0head and neck cancers<\/a>\u00a0three- to five-fold, according to a new study that analyzed millions of medical records.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research shows that people who use cannabis, particularly those with a cannabis use disorder, are significantly more likely to develop head and neck cancers compared to those who do not use cannabis,\u201d said senior study author Dr. Niels Kokot, a professor of clinical otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

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Cannabis use disorder<\/a>\u00a0is diagnosed when a person has two or more of such symptoms as craving weed, becoming tolerant to its effects, using more than intended, using marijuana even though it causes problems in life, using it in high-risk situations, experiencing withdrawal and being unable to quit, according to the\u00a0US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhile our study did not differentiate between methods of cannabis consumption, cannabis is most commonly consumed by smoking,\u201d Kokot said in an email. \u201cThe association we found likely pertains mainly to smoked cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some 69% of people with a diagnosis of\u00a0oral or throat cancer<\/a>\u00a0will\u00a0survive five years or longer\u00a0<\/a>after their diagnosis, according to the\u00a0National Cancer Institute.<\/a>\u00a0If the cancer metastasizes, however, that rate drops to 14%. About 61% of people diagnosed with\u00a0cancer of the\u00a0larynx<\/a>\u00a0will be alive five years later \u2014 a rate that drops to 16% if the cancer spreads.<\/p>\n

The study used insurance data to look at the association of cannabis use disorder with head and neck cancers, said Dr. Joseph Califano, the Iris and Matthew Strauss Chancellor\u2019s Endowed Chair in Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California, San Diego. He was not involved in the study.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe researchers used a huge, huge dataset, which is really extraordinary, and there is enormous power in looking at numbers this large when we typically only see small studies,\u201d said Califano, who is also the director of UC San Diego\u2019s Hanna and Mark\u00a0Gleiberman\u00a0Head and Neck Cancer Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn average, people with cannabis use disorder smoke about a joint today and do so for at least a couple years, if not longer,\u201d said Califano, who\u00a0coauthored an editorial<\/a>\u00a0published Thursday in JAMA Otolaryngology\u2013Head & Neck Surgery in conjunction with the new study.<\/p>\n

However, he added, the study does not find an association between \u201cthe occasional recreational use of marijuana and head and neck cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Just like tobacco, smoking marijuana raise the risk of head and neck cancers, experts say.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Causes of head and neck cancers<\/h3>\n

In the United States, head and neck cancers make up 4% of all cancers, with more than 71,000 new cases and more than 16,000 deaths expected in 2024, according to the\u00a0National Foundation for Cancer Research<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tobacco use, which includes smoking cigarettes, cigars, pipes and smokeless tobacco, and the use of alcohol are the two most common causes of head and neck cancers, experts say. Other risk factors include poor oral hygiene;gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD; a weakened immune system; and a diet low in fruits and vegetables. Occupational risk factors include exposure to asbestos and wood dust.<\/p>\n

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A growing number of head and neck cancers are due to infection with the human papillomavirus or HPV, or the Epstein-Barr virus, or EBV, which are DNA viruses that affect genes, making them susceptible to malignancies.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Epstein-Barr virus is linked to infectious mononucleosis, also called the \u201ckissing disease,\u201d as well as various cancers. Researchers\u00a0estimate<\/a>\u00a0that 90% of the world\u2019s population is infected with EBV.\u00a0 A vaccine is available for HPV, which is linked to a high risk of developing cervical cancer and some non-Hodgkin lymphomas.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible to be infected with both viruses at once, and that combination is responsible for 38% of all virus-associated cancers,\u00a0according to research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How might cannabis cause cancers?<\/h3>\n

The study, published Thursday in\u00a0JAMA Otolaryngology\u2013Head & Neck Surgery<\/a>, a<\/em>nalyzed a database of 4 million electronic health records and found more than 116,000 diagnoses of cannabis use disorder among people with head and neck cancers. Those men and women, whose average age was 46, were then matched with people who also had head and neck cancers but were not diagnosed with cannabis use disorder.<\/p>\n

T<\/em>he analysis showed that people with cannabis use disorder were about 2.5 times more likely to develop an oral cancer; nearly five times more likely to develop oropharyngeal cancer, which is cancer of the soft palate, tonsils and back of the throat; and over eight times more likely to develop cancer of the larynx. The findings held true for all age groups, according to the study.<\/p>\n

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Smoke is one key reason for the association between smoking weed and head and neck cancers, experts say. Smoking tobacco doubles the risk<\/a>\u00a0of developing head and neck\u00a0squamous cell carcinoma<\/a>, which makes up 90% of all head and neck cancers.\u00a0 Heavier tobacco use leads to even higher risk, and when alcohol is added, the risk is even greater.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Due to the way marijuana is smoked \u2014 unfiltered and breathed in deeply and held in the lungs and throat for a few seconds \u2014 the risk from cannabis smoke\u00a0could be even greater,<\/a>\u00a0experts say.<\/p>\n

Another key to the puzzle of how cannabis causes cancer: Research has found a link between various cannabinoids and tumor growth. There are\u00a0more than 100 cannabinoids<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 biological compounds in the cannabis plant that bind to cannabinoid receptors in the human body, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. All told, there are about 540 chemicals in each marijuana plant.<\/p>\n

Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the substance that makes one euphoric, while\u00a0cannabidiol, or CBD<\/a>, has been shown to have medicinal uses for childhood\u00a0seizures and epilepsy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the research\u00a0we have already published<\/a>\u00a0shows that THC or THC-like compounds can certainly accelerate tumor growth,\u201d Califano said. \u201cWe also have some data to show that cannabinoids enhance the growth of HPV-related throat cancers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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With the use of marijuana rising<\/a>, there is concern that diagnoses of head and neck cancers could increase in coming years, Kokot said.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cEspecially as (marijuana) becomes more widely legalized and socially accepted, we may see a corresponding rise in head and neck cancer cases if the association is confirmed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis underscores the importance to inform people about the potential risks and conduct further research to understand the long-term impacts of cannabis use on cancer development.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source:\u00a0 https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2024\/08\/08\/health\/marijuana-head-and-neck-cancer-wellness\/index.html<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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By Sandee LaMotte, CNN\u00a0 \/ Sat August 10, 2024 Using marijuana daily\u00a0for years may raise the overall risk of\u00a0head and neck cancers\u00a0three- to five-fold, according to a new study that analyzed millions of medical records. \u201cOur research shows that people who use cannabis, particularly those with a cannabis use disorder, are significantly more likely to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,68,64,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cannabis-marijuana","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-health","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}