Marijuana use may be associated with reduced prevalence of prostate cancer: A cross-sectional study using the national survey on drug use and health database.

Abstract

101 Background: Preclinical data from cell lines and animal xenograft models support the anti-tumor effects of cannabinoids in prostate cancer (PC). Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study to investigate this association using National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) data consisting of 2503 participants accrued from 2002 to 2020. Key independent variable was defined as current, former, and never users of marijuana (MJ). Dependent variable was self-reported PC (yes, no). Other MJ-related variables evaluated: age at first use, number of days used in the past 30 days, use of medical MJ, legality of MJ use in state of residence. Demographic variables assessed as potential confounders or covariates were: age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, total family income, insurance status, sexual identity, residence status, served in armed forces, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption. Multivariate (MV) logistic regression was employed to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95th percentile confidence intervals (CI) to quantify relationship with MJ use in relation to PC status. Results: Prevalence of PC was significantly lower among current MJ users (46/145, 31.7%), and former users (323/1021, 31.6%) in comparison to non-users (534/1337, 39.9%, p < 0.001). Older MJ users (≥ 65) had significantly lower prevalence of PC compared to nonusers (36.4% vs. 42.4%, p = 0.016). A similar significant reduction was documented among non-Hispanic white (NHW) MJ users when compared to nonusers (28.9% vs. 38.3%, p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the prevalence of PC between MJ users and non-users among the young (50-64) or other race/ethnicity. In MV logistic regression analyses, former MJ use was associated with a lower prevalence of PC compared to never use (OR = 0.74, 95% CI 0.62 - 0.90, p=0.001). Current MJ use also was suggestive of reduced prevalence but did not reach statistical significance (OR=0.77, 95% CI 0.52 – 1.14, p=0.198) possibly due to low sample size. Conclusions: Our findings provide additional data to link MJ use with low prevalence of PC, particularly in NHW. Future prospective studies using regulatory approved medical MJ are warranted. [Table: see text]