Sativex for Treatment of Chemotherapy Induced Neuropathic Pain

Chemotherapy is often used to treat cancer and in many cases can cure it or extend life. Unfortunately many of the chemotherapeutic agents used in treating cancer can cause nerve damage, resulting in severe pain involving the extremities. This \"neuropathic\" pain causes significant suffering in cancer survivors and may also limit the amount of chemotherapy patients are able to tolerate in attempting to treat the cancer. There is evidence that cannabinoids can suppress chemotherapy evoked neuropathy in animal models, in some cases better than morphine. This study proposes to examine the effect of a cannabinoid extract (Sativex) in treatment of neuropathic pain caused by chemotherapy.