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e24129 Background: Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are commonly used for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor positive breast cancer. Nearly 2 of 3 women on AIs complain of AIMSS leading to poor adherence. Preclinical and clinical pilot data suggest topical cannabinoids can reduce inflammation in arthritis. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial assessing the feasibility and acceptability of two different topical medical cannabis balms for AIMSS. Women with stage 1-3 breast cancer with AIMSS scoring 4 or higher on at least one of the four screening Modified Score for the Assessment and Quantification of Chronic Rheumatoid Affectations of the Hands (M-SACRAH) questions were eligible. Patients with skin lesions, use of any cannabis in prior 4 weeks, acupuncture, or plans to increase doses of other analgesics were excluded. Women were randomized 1:1 to cannabidiol (CBD) (2210mg CBD/ < 0.3% THC) vs delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (375mg THC/ < 20mg CBD) predominant balm. Participants enrolled in the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program and were dispensed balms at state-registered dispensaries. 125cc of balm was applied 3 times daily to hands for 2 weeks. M-SACRAH, brief pain inventory (BPI), and NCI Patient Reported Outcomes Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) measures were captured weekly. Results: 20 women were enrolled from one academic and one community oncology practice in Minnesota over a 10-month period. Reasons patients with AIMSS did not enroll included patient/clinician not interested, AIMSS not meeting M-SACRAH severity, and patient already using cannabis. Adherence to study protocol through week 2 was 85%. Mean age was 54 years, 85% White/15% Asian, 45% received adjuvant chemotherapy, and 50% reported no lifetime cannabis use. Participants reported improvement in M-SACRAH, BPI, and PRO-CTCAE pain scores from baseline to week 2 (Table 1). No skin toxicity was reported by patients. One patient discontinued balm due to greasy texture. Conclusions: Conducting a randomized trial of topical cannabis using state approved dispensaries is feasible. Both THC and CBD predominant topical balms are well tolerated and appear to reduce AIMSS severity in this pilot study of breast cancer survivors. Further confirmatory studies are warranted. Clinical trial information: NCT05935891 . Table: see text
Zylla et al. (Sat,) studied this question.