Listen – ‘Evidence-based priority’: Dr Janet Schloss’ cancer nutrition mission to combat misleading claims

Currently a clinical research fellow at the National Centre for Naturopathic Medicine at Australia’s Southern Cross University, Dr Janet Schloss’ areas of expertise include herbal medicines and oncology, nutrition and dietetics, and nutritional biochemistry.

Some of the nutritional interventions that she has explored for cancer patients include vitamin B12 for reducing the onset and severity of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy as well as medicinal cannabis.

In May, she and her colleagues published new findings on how the use of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is safe in patients suffering from advanced stage brain cancer.

The combination has also shown to improve the patients’ quality of life, sleep, and functional wellbeing.

Dr Schloss, who has published nearly 80 scientific papers, revealed that it was her auntie’s experience with bowel cancer and consumption of supplements with fake promises that impacted her decision to study cancer and nutrition.

“When I was initially studying, my auntie had bowel cancer and chose not to do medical treatment, and there was this person who was not qualified but gave different supplements to my auntie and she actually had a terrible death. ​

“And part of me decided that this is an area that I want to specialise in, and I want to make sure that we do evidence-based [research], so that nobody has to go through what my auntie went through,”​ she said.  

Her upcoming research will look at medicinal cannabis’ benefits in brain cancer patients when compared to the placebo. The previous study only compared the effects of THC to CBD at the ratios of 4:1 and 1:1 without a placebo group.  

She is also interested to find out the delivery system that could allow medicinal cannabis to be delivered into the patients without having to cross the blood-brain barrier.

Listen to find out more.