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Pancreatic cancer

SueL1
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Hi

i know there have been previous posts on this, but I’m trying to understand the current position on cannabis oil.  I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer with liver mets in Dec 2016 and am in the middle of chemotherapy. I want to understand whether cannabis oil will help to shrink the tumour.  From what I’ve read, some oil is legal, but others aren’t? There appears to be different oils available depending on what’s in them and I’m confused! Any advice or experience of using cannabis would be gratefully received.  Thanks in anticipation. Sue x

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    Hello and welcome to Cancer Chat, Sue.

    I’m not surprised you’re feeling a bit confused, there’s so much misinformation out there on the web when it comes to cannabis oil.

    The first thing to say is that Cannabis oil is not legal in the UK. This is because it contains the mind-altering substance THC. However, hemp (or CBD) oil is legal in the UK – this is because it has extremely low levels of THC in it so doesn’t have any mind-altering effects. 

    Scientists have been working to understand the potential benefits of using molecules found in cannabis (cannabinoids) to treat cancer for a while. However, there’s little proof to suggest that either cannabis or hemp oil benefits most cancer patients.

    We’ve got an extensive blog on just this topic, which is a long but very interesting read: Cannabis, cannabinoids and cancer – the evidence so far.

    In a nutshell, as the blog says, there just isn’t enough reliable evidence to prove that cannabinoids effectively treat cancer in patients.

    I hope this information helps; please do speak to your doctor about this too.

    With warm wishes,

    Helen
    Cancer Chat moderator

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