Medical cannabis use and its effects in people with breast cancer during and after treatment
Official title: Assessing Benefits and Harms of Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoid Use in Breast Cancer Patients During and After Treatments
Funded at University of Miami School of Medicine · NIH-11173647 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project follows breast cancer patients who do and do not use medical cannabis to learn how cannabis use relates to symptoms, side effects, and treatment outcomes.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Miami School of Medicine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Coral Gables, United States) |
| Project start | September 20, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $190,116 |
| NIH project number | 5U01CA286810-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11173647 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with a diagnosis of breast cancer who are currently undergoing treatment or are in the period after treatment, including both medical cannabis users and non-users, would be ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without breast cancer, those unwilling to share cannabis use details or provide follow-up data or blood samples, or those seeking experimental cannabis treatments would not likely benefit from participating.
What this research studies
If you have breast cancer and are receiving or recently finished treatment, this study will follow you over time to track whether you use medical cannabis, what products and doses you use, and how you feel. The team plans to enroll 600 people (about 300 who use cannabis and 300 who do not) and will collect medical information, patient-reported symptoms, clinician reports, and blood samples for biological markers. Researchers will look at inflammatory pathways that might explain symptom relief or harms and will record any adverse reactions or possible interactions with cancer therapies. The study combines questionnaires, clinical data from your care team, and lab tests to build a clearer picture of benefits and risks.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could help patients and doctors understand whether medical cannabis eases treatment-related symptoms and whether it affects treatment safety or cancer outcomes.
How similar studies have gone: Surveys and small studies suggest cannabis can relieve some cancer-related symptoms, but robust data on cancer outcomes and treatment interactions are limited, so this larger prospective cohort is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Miami School of Medicine
Coral Gables, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hu, Jennifer J — University of Miami School of Medicine
- Study coordinator: Hu, Jennifer J
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Medical cannabis use in breast cancer patients during and after treatment
Breast cancer patients who use medical cannabis during or after treatment are being studied to see how it affects their symptoms and overall outcomes.
-
Exploring the effects of medical cannabis on breast cancer patients during and after treatment
This study is looking at how medical cannabis might help or hurt breast cancer patients during and after their treatment, by comparing the experiences of 600 patients who use it with those who don’t, to see how it affects their symptoms and overall health.
-
Improving Breast Cancer Guideline Adherence in Nigeria
Aimed at helping doctors in Nigeria follow international guideline-based breast cancer care to improve outcomes for women with breast cancer.
-
Genomic study to understand how genetics and epigenetics shape triple-negative breast cancer in African ancestry
This study looks at how inherited genes and gene activity affect triple-negative breast cancer in people of African ancestry to better understand why outcomes can be worse.
-
Translational breast cancer research to improve treatment options
A comprehensive program at Baylor College of Medicine is focusing on breast cancer; researchers will advance targeted therapies and biomarkers to help patients with aggressive or hard-to-treat forms.
-
Cancer Pain Management for Asian American Breast Cancer Survivors with Depressive Symptoms
A technology-based program helps Asian American breast cancer survivors with depressive symptoms manage chronic pain more effectively from home using a web app and mobile tools.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.