Abstract B014: Cannabis use among cancer survivors and its association with cardiometabolic risk factors: Findings from the All of Us Research Program
Authors: Arizpe Angel , Toledo-Corral Claudia M. , Ochoa-Dominguez Carol Y. , Navarro Stephanie , Kim Sue E. , Farias Albert J. 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Purpose: Cannabis use has been linked to alleviating symptoms such as sleep issues, mental health, and physical problems resulting from cancer treatment among cancer survivors. However, in the US general population, evidence suggests that an increase in cannabis use increases the risk for cardiovascular disease including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol. This is even more alarming since users who have been diagnosed with cancer have an even greater independent risk of cardiovascular events due to the toxicities of cancer therapeutic drugs. Given the US trend in cannabis legalization and decriminalization and the limited knowledge of the association between cannabis use and cardiometabolic biomarkers among cancer survivors, we aim to assess the independent associations between cannabis use and several cardiometabolic biomarkers and explore racial/ethnic and sex differences among a sample of cancer survivors from the All of Us (AoU) Program. Methods: Cross-sectional cannabis data and cardiometabolic risk factor biomarkers were obtained from adult cancer survivors in the AoU Research Program from 2018-2022. Cannabis use was defined as never use (in a lifetime or past three months), occasional use (twice or monthly in the past three months), and frequent/regular use (weekly or daily). Cardiometabolic outcomes included cardiovascular (e.g., systolic, diastolic blood pressure, hypertension), immune (i.e., White Blood Cell [WBC] counts, C-reactive protein [CRP]), and metabolic systems biomarkers (e.g. waist-to-hip ratio, lipids, HbA1c), were dichotomized from continuous values to elevated vs normal where high values, defined by clinically established cutoffs or &gt;75th percentile, represented elevated biomarkers. Multivariable logistic regression and stratified models if interactions were statistically significant, adjusting for treatment, smoking, hazardous alcohol use, and sociodemographic variables were used. Results: Our cohort (N=6,985) consisted of 7.6% Hispanic, 6.2% Black, and 86.2% White survivors. Overall, 8.2% of survivors reported occasional and frequent/regular cannabis use, with Black survivors (9.7%) reporting a greater proportion of frequent/regular use compared to White (3.2%) and Hispanic (4.7%) survivors. Similarly, female (2.8%) survivors reported a lower frequency of frequent/regular cannabis use compared to male (4.2%) survivors. Compared to never users, frequent/regular users were 3.35(95% CI=1.10-10.53) times as likely to report elevated WBC count. No significant associations were found between cannabis use and CRP, cardiovascular, and metabolic systems biomarkers. Similarly, no race/ethnicity or sex (both pinteraction &gt; 0.05) differences were found in the cannabis and WBC association. Conclusion: Our results underscore that more frequent cannabis use may have a detrimental effect on immune risk factors like WBC counts among survivors. Being that high WBC may be predictive of cardiovascular diseases and mortality, future studies should explore the longitudinal effects of cannabis use on WBC.
Citation Format: Angel Arizpe, Claudia M. Toledo-Corral, Carol Y. Ochoa-Dominguez, Stephanie Navarro, Sue E. Kim, Albert J. Farias. Cannabis use among cancer survivors and its association with cardiometabolic risk factors: Findings from the All of Us Research Program [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B014.