The Dairy and Cancer Controversy: Milking the Evidence.

Purpose Of Review: Cancer risk reduction remains a significant concern for both individuals with a cancer diagnosis and those aiming to prevent it. Dairy products, a source of beneficial dietary nutrients, have sparked controversy regarding their impact on cancer risk.

Recent Findings: Evidence indicates that dairy consumption, particularly milk, can decrease colorectal cancer risk.

Patients Receiving Integrative Medicine Effectiveness Registry (PRIMIER) of the BraveNet practice-based research network: Outcomes of the PRIMIER cohort.

Objective: To evaluate the real-world effectiveness of integrative medicine treatment on quality of life using the Patients Receiving Integrative Medicine Effectiveness Registry (PRIMIER).

Design: A prospective, longitudinal, observational evaluation of patient reported outcomes for quality of life.

Setting: Participants were patients from 17 integrative medicine clinics who received personalized, integrative medicine treatments between August 2013 and October 2017.

Backgrounds and Trainings in Cannabis Therapeutics of Dispensary Personnel.

Purpose: A growing body of scientific research indicates that oncology teams tend to offer individuals with cancer little clinical advice regarding medicinal cannabis (MC) and that individuals with cancer instead turn to cannabis dispensaries for MC guidance. Our objective was to investigate dispensary personnel's backgrounds and trainings in MC advising.

Methods: The study design was semistructured interviews across 13 states with cannabis dispensary personnel in managerial or client-facing positions.

The Potential of Salivary Lipid-Based Cannabis-Responsive Biomarkers to Evaluate Medical Cannabis Treatment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions affecting social communication and social interaction. Medical cannabis (MC) treatment shows promising results as an approach to reduce behavioral difficulties, as determined mainly by subjective observations. We have recently shown the potential of cannabis-responsive biomarkers detected in saliva of children with ASD to objectively quantify the impact of successful MC treatment using a metabolomics approach.

Cannabis, Cannabinoids and Cannabis-Based Medicines in Cancer Care.

As medical cannabis becomes legal in more states, cancer patients are increasingly interested in the potential utility of the ancient botanical in their treatment regimen. Although eager to discuss cannabis use with their oncologist, patients often find that their provider reports that they do not have adequate information to be helpful. Oncologists, so dependent on evidence-based data to guide their treatment plans, are dismayed by the lack of published literature on the benefits of medical cannabis.

Cannabis-Responsive Biomarkers: A Pharmacometabolomics-Based Application to Evaluate the Impact of Medical Cannabis Treatment on Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental conditions that impact behavior, communication, social interaction, and learning abilities. Treatment of ASD with medical cannabis (MC) shows promising results in reducing the severity of certain behavioral aspects. The goals of this observational study are to demonstrate the potential of metabolic biomarkers to (1) objectively determine the impact on metabolites of MC treatment and (2) suggest the metabolic pathways of children with ASD, who respond to MC treatment.

Cannabis and the Cancer Patient.

Session 2 of the National Cancer Institute's Cannabis, Cannabinoids, and Cancer Research Workshop opened with testimony from a lymphoma survivor who detailed medicinal cannabis-related improvements in nausea, low appetite, insomnia, and mental health and the limited clinical counsel she received regarding cannabis use. Discussion next turned to the evolution of the legal landscape of cannabis in the United States, one in which state and federal laws frequently conflict and the Controlled Substance Act renders cannabis Schedule I. This legal climate creates conundrums for US medicinal cannabis researchers who contend with limited funding opportunities, avenues to source trial drug, and procedural red tape and for oncology clinicians who recommend medicinal cannabis to patients with some frequency while perceiving themselves as ill equipped to make such clinical recommendations.

Challenges for Clinical Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research in the United States.

Significant changes have occurred in the policy landscape surrounding cannabis legalization, production, and use around the globe and across the United States. With widespread availability of novel cannabis and cannabis-based products, there is an urgent need to understand their safety and effectiveness for medical indications. Three primary barriers contribute to the difficulty in initiating research geared toward answering the most pressing public health questions: the US regulatory status of cannabis and cannabinoids, sources for cannabis and cannabinoid study medications, and limited funding and resources to support studies.

Cancer Treatment: Preclinical & Clinical.

The first evidence that cannabinoids may have in vitro and in vivo antineoplastic activity against tumor cell lines and animal tumor models was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute nearly 50 years ago. Cannabinoids appear to induce apoptosis in rodent brain tumors by way of direct interaction with the cannabinoid receptor. They may inhibit angiogenesis and tumor cell invasiveness.

A cannabis oracle? Delphi method not a substitute for randomized controlled trials of cannabinoids as therapeutics.

Background: With millions of people using cannabinoids to treat a host of medical conditions, clinicians want guidance on how to utilize cannabinoids as pharmacotherapy in their practices. The Delphi method is a systematic, interactive forecasting method that aims to develop consensus best practices where guidelines are not available. BODY: A multidisciplinary group of global cannabinoid experts utilized a modified Delphi process to develop three protocols for the dosing and administration of cannabinoids to treat chronic pain.

Effect of Inhaled Cannabis for Pain in Adults With Sickle Cell Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by chronic pain and episodic acute pain caused by vasoocclusive crises, often requiring high doses of opioids for prolonged periods. In humanized mouse models of SCD, a synthetic cannabinoid has been found to attenuate both chronic and acute hyperalgesia. The effect of cannabis on chronic pain in adults with SCD is unknown.

Considering abuse liability and neurocognitive effects of cannabis and cannabis-derived products when assessing analgesic efficacy: a comprehensive review of randomized-controlled studies.

: Pain is the most frequent indication for which medical cannabis treatment is sought.: The clinical potential of cannabis and cannabis-derived products (CDPs) relies on their efficacy to treat an indication and potential adverse effects that impact outcomes, including abuse liability and neurocognitive effects. To ascertain the extent to which these effects impact therapeutic utility, studies investigating cannabis and CDPs for pain were reviewed for analgesic efficacy and assessments of abuse liability and neurocognitive effects.

Improving Access to Integrative Oncology Through Group Medical Visits: A Pilot Implementation Project.

This article describes the implementation of a group medical visit (GMV) model to increase access to integrative oncology (IO) care. The most challenging and critical time to access high-quality IO care is while patients are receiving conventional cancer therapy. Often demand for individual IO clinic consultations precludes this from occurring.

Should Oncologists Recommend Cannabis?

Cannabis is a useful botanical with a wide range of therapeutic potential. Global prohibition over the past century has impeded the ability to study the plant as medicine. However, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has been developed as a stand-alone pharmaceutical initially approved for the treatment of chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting in 1986.

Pros and Cons of Dietary Strategies Popular Among Cancer Patients.

As many as 48% of cancer patients pursue popular diets, including the alkaline, Paleolithic, ketogenic, vegan, and macrobiotic diets, with the hope that they will improve survival and prevent recurrence. These diets have positive aspects consistent with the dietary guidelines proposed by the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). All of the diets emphasize eating vegetables, all but the ketogenic diet encourage eating fruit, and all but the vegan diet limit refined grains and alcohol.

An Integrative Approach to Prostate Cancer.

Objectives: The mostly indolent natural history and long overall survival associated with a diagnosis of prostate cancer provides a unique opportunity for men to explore diet and lifestyle interventions to alter the trajectory of their disease. As many patients may be appropriate for postponing conventional therapy, the effects of various integrative interventions can be investigated. In addition, treatment of prostate cancer with surgery, radiation, or androgen deprivation therapy, all may produce physical or psychological side effects that could be amenable to complementary therapies.

Vitamin D Levels in Patients with Colorectal Cancer Before and After Treatment Initiation.

Purpose: We aimed to described 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels in newly diagnosed colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and to re-evaluate levels after chemotherapy.

Methods: Permanent residents of the San Francisco Bay Area with a new CRC diagnosis of any stage were recruited prior to any non-surgical therapy. Serum 25(OH)D levels were measured at time of diagnosis and 6-month follow-up.

The therapeutic effects of Cannabis and cannabinoids: An update from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine conducted a rapid turn-around comprehensive review of recent medical literature on The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids. The 16-member committee adopted the key features of a systematic review process, conducting an extensive search of relevant databases and considered 10,000 recent abstracts to determine their relevance. Primacy was given to recently published systematic reviews and primary research that studied one of the committee's 11 prioritized health endpoints- therapeutic effects; cancer incidence; cardiometabolic risk; respiratory disease; immune function; injury and death; prenatal, perinatal and postnatal outcomes; psychosocial outcomes; mental health; problem Cannabis use; and Cannabis use and abuse of other substances.