Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan 17:215:115158.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2024.115158. Epub 2024 Nov 30.

An international survey on the knowledge, attitudes and clinical patterns of use of medical cannabis for cancer care: The TASMAN study

Dario Trapani  1 , Sara J Nidhamalddin  2 , Sara Gandini  3 , Marco Filetti  4 , Sara C Altuna  5 , Ambra Carnevale Schianca  1 , Angelica Petrillo  6 , Shilpa M Murthy  7 , Fabio Girardi  8 , Jacques B Bezuidenhout  9 , Khalid El Bairi  10 , Pasquale Lombardi  11 , Shah Z Khan  12 , Csongor G Lengyel  13 , Andreas Seeber  14 , Sadaqat Hussain  15 , Fahmi U Seid  16 , Essam Elfaham  17 , Andrew O Odhiambo  18 , Yakup Coskun  19 , Habeeb S Baker  20 , Arman R Chowdhury  21 , Armando Genazzani  22 , Gennaro Daniele  4 , Giampiero Porzio  23 , Giuseppe Curigliano  1 , Raffaele Giusti  24
Affiliations

An international survey on the knowledge, attitudes and clinical patterns of use of medical cannabis for cancer care: The TASMAN study

Dario Trapani et al. Eur J Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Medical cannabis (MC) has gained traction in oncology for managing cancer-related symptoms, but its integration faces challenges due to limited evidence, inconsistent guidelines, and varied legal frameworks.

Methods: The TASMAN study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of oncologists and palliative care providers globally regarding MC use in cancer care. A survey of healthcare providers from diverse regions and income levels was conducted.

Results: we study included 179 participants (response rate: 51.1 %), with an equal gender distribution (49.4 % female) and a median age of 37 years. Participants were primarily oncologists (71.5 %), practicing in university hospitals (40.2 %) or cancer centres (32.4 %), with over half from low- and middle-income countries. Most respondents (92.7 %) were unaware of clinical guidelines for MC. A proportion of 44.1 % were familiar with MC use, 78.8 % recognized its role in cancer pain, and 34 % identified its role in managing cachexia. Awareness of specific products was low, with only 10 % familiar with specific cannabis products. Three-quarters of respondents (84.4 %) did not prescribe MC routinely. Legal status and regulations were unclear for most participants; 40 % noted cannabis as illegal. MC use and patient requests were more common in high-income countries and the EURO region, with palliative care providers demonstrating the highest awareness and prescription rates.

Conclusion: Clearer regulations, standardized guidelines, and targeted education are essential to support the safe integration of MC into oncology and palliative care, ultimately improving the quality of life for cancer patients.

Keywords: Cannabis; Global oncology; Legislative barriers; Medical cannabis; Palliative care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest PL is supported by a European Society of Medical Oncology fellowship. CGL is Employment by BMS, outside this work, the present work corresponds to his academic employment and has received no support from the company. GC reports personal fees for consulting, advisory role and speakers’ bureau from Roche/Genentech, Novartis, Pfizer, Lilly, Foundation Medicine, Samsung and Daiichi Sankyo; honoraria from Ellipses Pharma and fees for travel and accommodations from Roche/Genentech and Pfizer. All the competing interests were outside the submitted work. The other authors report no potential COI.

Substances

LinkOut - more resources