Cannabis Use Disorder Tied to Benign Salivary Tumors

TOPLINE:

Cannabis use disorder (CUD) was associated with a greater than fivefold increased risk for benign tumors of major salivary glands compared to not having CUD, a new retrospective study showed. Additionally, the elevated risk persisted beyond 5 years of follow-up and particularly affected the parotid salivary gland.

METHODOLOGY:

• As previous research showed a link between cigarette smoking and benign gland tumors, the current investigators wanted to assess whether CUD was also associated with these tumors.
• In this retrospective cohort study, they analyzed electronic medical records from 66 US-based healthcare organizations.
• Incidence of any benign major salivary gland tumor and parotid salivary gland tumor was compared between nearly 184,000 adults with a history of hospital outpatient visit and CUD and more than 6 million individuals without CUD between 2005 and 2025.
• Propensity score matching was applied to adjust for clinical characteristics, including age, race, ethnicity, tobacco use, nicotine use disorder, and a history of radiation.

TAKEAWAY:

• The incidence of benign tumor of any major salivary gland and that of the parotid salivary gland was higher in the CUD group than in the non-CUD group (0.08 vs 0.02% and 0.05 vs 0.01%, respectively).
• Relative risk for any benign major salivary gland tumor was higher in the CUD vs non-CUD group at all timepoints between index event and outcome assessment (risk ratio [RR] for any time, 5.2; RR for 0-5 years, 4.3; RR for ≥ 5 years, 5.0).
• Relative risk for benign tumor of the parotid salivary gland was also increased after a diagnosis of CUD (RR for any time, 5.2; RR for 0-5 years, 4.9; RR for ≥ 5 years, 3.9).

IN PRACTICE:

“The elevated relative risk of benign parotid tumors and the persistent association over time highlight potential site-specific outcomes of cannabis use,” the investigators wrote.

“Future prospective research with large samples and data on cannabis doing, method of use, and benign salivary gland neoplasm pathology is required to further assess and confirm this association,” they added.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Tyler J. Gallagher, MD, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. It was published online on July 17 in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

LIMITATIONS:

The study was constrained by the absence of cannabis dosage information and histologic data on benign salivary gland tumors and a limited long-term follow-up.

DISCLOSURES:

The investigators reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.