A study published this week by Clinical and Translational Oncology finds that cannabidiol (CBD) can provide meaningful improvements in sleep quality for cancer patients, particularly when taken at higher doses.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison examined data from 1,962 cancer patients enrolled in the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program (MMCP) between 2015 and 2023, making this one of the largest analyses to date on cannabis and sleep in cancer populations.

Patients rated their sleep disturbance on a scale from 0 to 10, with the average score at enrollment being 6.72. After beginning medical cannabis treatment, scores decreased by an average of 1.63 points, which represented a 24.3% reduction in symptom severity. The researchers found that patients in the top quintile of CBD dosing experienced an average improvement of 1.87 points, approaching what is considered clinically significant improvement on this scale.

Interestingly, the analysis showed that THC dose and the THC-to-CBD ratio were not consistently linked to better sleep outcomes. Instead, CBD stood out as the most reliable factor.

“Compared to the highest quintile category of CBD dose, lower dose quintiles were 29–35% less likely to be associated with at least a 30% improvement in sleep disturbance scores,” the study noted.

Most patients in the program used oral cannabis products, with an average daily intake of 32 mg of THC and 14 mg of CBD. Despite THC often being associated with sedation, this study suggests that its benefits for sleep may be less predictable, with it helping some but not others, while CBD provided a more consistent relationship with improvements in sleep disturbance.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence supporting the therapeutic role of cannabinoids in cancer care. The researchers conclude by saying “Higher CBD doses may be associated with clinically meaningful improvements in sleep in cancer patients enrolled in a medical cannabis program.”