Safety and Efficacy of Smoked Cannabis for Improving Quality of Life in Advanced Cancer Patients

Cancer Clinical Trial

Official title: Safety and Efficacy of PPP001-kit for Improving Health Related Quality of Life in Advanced Cancer Patients With Uncontrolled Pain: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel Group Study

Status Terminated

Clinical Trial Summary

Cancer causes pain in many of the patients that it affects. Physicians specialized in palliative care help advanced cancer patients to maintain as good pain control as possible through the use of medications such as opioids. Even with palliative care and optimal use of medications, many patients still suffer enormously as the cancer spreads. Because of this, some cancer patients also try or use cannabis in different ways to relieve their pain and improve the way they feel. However, there has not been much high-quality research done yet to prove whether or not cannabis products are truly useful to relieve severe cancer pain. This study is to test if advanced cancer patients who use inhaled medical cannabis (PPP001), in addition to palliative care management, will experience improvement in quality of life and relieve uncontrolled pain, providing safety conditions.

Clinical Trial Description

This is a 4-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group design trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of inhaled PPP001 to improve quality of life (HRQoL) and reduce pain intensity, in patients with uncontrolled cancer pain and incurable malignancy.

Nine hundred forty six adult patients, male and female, with chronic cancer pain (at least 3 months in duration) and advanced disease, with an average weekly pain intensity score greater than 4 on a 11 points Numerical Rate Scale (NRS), will be prospectively recruited and invited to participate in this trial.

Informed consent will be obtained by a Research Assistant.

After baseline documentation with standardized scales, patients will be randomized to one of 2 parallel groups:

Group A: 4 weeks PPP001-kit three times daily; Group B: 4 weeks placebo-kit three times daily; The inhalation of PPP001 or placebo-kit will be allowed three times a day at 4-6 hour intervals. Rescue medication will also be allowed.

Patients will have a dose titration phase during the first week, followed by an additional 3-week period of treatment. The dose escalation will allow patients to adapt to the potential AEs of cannabis.

Patients will have follow-up after 1 week and 4 weeks of treatment. Once the patient has completed 4 weeks of inhaled PPP001 or placebo, it will be rolled into a long-term follow-up phase until drop-out or death. All patients, including the ones in the placebo group, will be allowed to receive the active treatment once the 4-weeks trial has finished, and continue it until death or drop-out. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cancer
• Chronic Pain
• Chronic Pain Due to Malignancy (Finding)
• Neoplasms

• NCT number: NCT03339622
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Tetra Bio-Pharma
• Status: Terminated
• Phase: Phase 3
• Start date: March 29, 2018
• Completion date: February 8, 2019