The UCSD School of Medicine study highlights the potential long-term health risks associated with problematic cannabis use.
Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine have found that people with cannabis use disorder are more than three times more likely to develop oral cancer within five years than those without CUD.
CUD requires a formal diagnosis and not all cannabis users develop the disorder; recent research suggests that as many as three in 10 cannabis users will develop CUD.
The UCSD study, published online in Preventive Medicine Reports, sought to determine the relationship between CUD and oral cancer, for which tobacco smoking is known to be a significant risk factor, as cannabis smoke “contains many of the same carcinogenic compounds found in tobacco smoke,” according to UCSD associate professor Raphael Cuomo.
The carcinogenic compounds have known damaging effects on the mouth’s epithelial tissue.
After analyzing the electronic health records from over 45,000 patients, of whom 949 developed CUD, Cuomo found people had a 325 percent times higher likelihood of contracting oral cancer within five years compared to those without CUD.
“These findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that chronic or problematic cannabis use may contribute to cancer risk in tissues exposed to combustion products,” Cuomo said.
Tobacco smokers with CUD were 624 percent more likely to contract oral cancer within five years compared to tobacco smokers without CUD.
As the association between CUD and oral cancer remained even after controlling for smoking status, and because CUD was associated with greater oral cancer risk even when the analysis was restricted to smokers, the researchers hypothesize that there may be other factors underlying this risk in addition to smoke inhalation.
For example, THC, the active compound in cannabis, is known to have immune-suppressing effects, which may contribute to increased cancer risk.
More research is needed to fully understand the association between cannabis and oral cancer.
