A future pilot study conducted by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and funded by the Australian State Government’s Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund (VMRAF) will examine how medicinal cannabis can mitigate symptoms in adolescents and children undertaking palliative care for non-cancerous conditions, which will be the first such study conducted in the world.
“The trial will evaluate the study design spanning recruitment strategy, medication tolerability, duration and outcomes to determine acceptability and feasibility for participating families and our research team,” said Dr. Daryl Efron, who is an Associate Professor at Murdoch, and lead researcher on the study. “The data collected will then be used to design a full-scale multi-center trial.”
A total of 10 participants, aged from six months to 21 years, will take part in the study, all of which are receiving treatment in the Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program and who exhibit symptoms that affect their quality of life. Recruitment for the pilot study will begin near the end of 2022.
Dr. Efron explained that patients undertaking palliative care experience symptoms that include seizures, gastrointestinal issues, irritability, pain, dystonia, and spasticity, all of which have drastic affects on both the patient’s quality of life and well-being.
“These symptoms are difficult to control with currently prescribed medications, most of which cause significant side-effects,” said Dr. Efron. “Medicinal cannabis is a new therapy with great hope, but there is little evidence from clinical trials, particularly in children. In our experience, parents are interested in obtaining medicinal cannabis for their child’s symptoms, but physicians are reluctant to prescribe it because of the lack of quality research. There is an urgent need for clinical trials to properly evaluate the role of medicinal cannabis for use in these highly vulnerable patients.”
Approximately 70 percent of Victorian-managed patients possess non-oncological conditions to include progressive cardiac disease, genetic and metabolic conditions, severe cerebral palsy, and neurodegenerative disorders.
“If medicinal cannabis is shown to be effective it will represent an important treatment breakthrough for this patient group,” said Dr. Efron.
Sources: Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund (VMRAF)
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