Cannabis-based drug 'is HELPING cancer patients... by giving them the munchies'

A cannabis-based drug is helping cancer patients maintain and even increase their body weight by giving them the munchies, a clinical trial has found.

The 'exciting' results offer hope to millions of cancer patients suffering from the debilitating wasting syndrome cachexia.

Around 80 per cent of people with advanced cancer develop cachexia - a condition that causes severe weight and muscle loss and is linked to roughly one in three cancer deaths.

There are currently no approved treatments to prevent or reverse it.

Now, a small British biotech company believes it may have found a way to counteract the disease by harnessing the appetite-boosting effects long associated with cannabis, The Times reports.

Artelo Biosciences has developed a synthetic molecule that targets the body's cannabinoid receptors - mimicking the natural compounds found in cannabis - but without the mind-altering effects.

The drug, known as ART27.13, is taken as a tablet and has just completed its second phase of clinical trials.

Results from the double-blind study showed that patients taking the new treatment gained an average of 6.4 per cent of their body weight over 12 weeks, compared with a 5.4 per cent loss among those given a placebo.

Some patients gained up to 20 per cent. Participants also became more active, with data from wearable trackers showing increased movement, while those on the placebo became less active.

No significant side effects were reported, and patients did not experience the 'high' typically associated with cannabis.

Professor Barry Laird, of the University of Oslo, who led the study, described the results as 'massive'.

He said one patient was able to play a round of golf again, while another managed a weekend holiday - milestones they thought they'd never reach.

He added that the psychological benefits were equally important, saying: 'When patients can sit at the dinner table again and enjoy a meal with loved ones, it's hugely impactful. It's a quality-of-life issue.'

The trial involved 25 people with advanced cancers, including lung, abdominal and gynaecological forms of the disease.

Every participant who received the treatment either gained weight or stopped losing it - results Professor Laird called 'encouraging.'

Artelo now plans to launch large-scale phase three trials, expanding the number of participants twelvefold before submitting the results to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and international regulators for approval.

Chief scientific officer Andy Yates said the drug could reach patients by 2028 if the next phase of trials proves successful and partnerships with larger pharmaceutical firms are secured.