“New research out of Spain suggests that THC — the active ingredient in marijuana — appears to prompt the death of brain cancer cells.”
Category Archives: Brain Cancer
Active Ingredient in Marijuana Kills Brain Cancer Cells – ABCNews
“New research out of Spain suggests that THC — the active ingredient in marijuana — appears to prompt the death of brain cancer cells.
The finding is based on work with mice designed to carry human cancer tumors, as well as from an analysis of THC’s impact on tumor cells extracted from two patients coping with a highly aggressive form of brain cancer.
Explaining that the introduction of THC into the brain triggers a cellular self-digestion process known as “autophagy,” study co-author Guillermo Velasco said his team has isolated the specific pathway by which this process unfolds, and noted that it appears “to kill cancer cells, while it does not affect normal cells…”
The findings were published in the April issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.”: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/37948
More: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=7235037&page=1
“Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells” Full Text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673842/
THC, found in cannabis, shown to be effective in the treatment of brain tumors
Marijuana Compounds Possess Synergistic Anti-Cancer Effects, Study Says
“Marijuana’s active compounds act synergistically to inhibit the growth of cancer cells and induce malignant cell death, according to preclinical trial data published online by the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
Investigators at the University of California, Pacific Medical Center Research Institute assessed whether the administration of the non-psychoactive cannabidiol would enhance the anti-cancer effects of THC on glioblastoma (brain cancer) cells.
Researchers reported that a combination of cannabinoids showed greater anti-cancer activity than the administration of either compound individually. “We discovered that cannabidiol enhanced the ability of THC to inhibit cell proliferation and induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis (programmed cell death),” authors reported.
Investigators concluded: “Individually, THC and cannabidiol can activate distinct pathways in glioblastoma cells that ultimately culminate in inhibition of cancer cell growth and invasion as well as induction of cell death. We hypothesized that, if the individual agents were combined, a convergence on shared pathways may ensue, leading to an enhanced ability of the combination treatment to inhibit certain cancer cell phenotypes. We found this to be true in this investigation.”
A 2008 scientific review published in the journal Cancer Research reported that the cannabinioids inhibit cell proliferation in a wide range of cancers, including brain cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lymphoma.”
Cannabidiol enhances the inhibitory effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on human glioblastoma cell proliferation and survival
“Δ9-THC and other cannabinoids can act as direct anticancer agents in multiple types of cancer in culture and in vivo.
Individually, Δ9-THC and CBD can activate distinct pathways in glioblastoma cells that ultimately culminate in inhibition of cancer cell growth and invasion as well as induction of cell death.
We hypothesized that, if the individual agents were combined, a convergence on shared pathways may ensue leading to an enhanced ability of the combination treatment to inhibit certain cancer cell phenotypes.
We found this to be true in this investigation.
CBD enhances the inhibitory effects of Δ9-THC on glioblastoma cell growth.
Cannabidiol significantly improved the inhibitory effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on glioblastoma cell proliferation and survival.
The Combination Treatment of Δ9-THC and Cannabidiol Inhibits Cell Cycle and Induces Apoptosis.
Our results suggest that the addition of CBD to Δ9-THC may improve the overall effectiveness of Δ9-THC in the treatment of glioblastoma in cancer patients.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2806496/
http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/9/1/180.full
“CBD Enhances the Anticancer Effects of THC” https://www.scribd.com/document/50154001/CBD-Enhances-the-Anticancer-Effects-of-THC-Journal-MCT-Marcu
Marijuana Ingredient Inhibits VEGF Pathway Required For Brain Tumor Blood Vessels
“Cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, restrict the sprouting of blood vessels to brain tumors by inhibiting the expression of genes needed for the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
“Blockade of the VEGF pathway constitutes one of the most promising antitumoral approaches currently available,” said Manuel Guzmán, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, with the Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, and the study’s principal investigator.
“The present findings provide a novel pharmacological target for cannabinoid-based therapies.””
More: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/08/040816085401.htm
“Cannabinoids inhibit the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway in gliomas.” http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/64/16/5617.long
Inhibition of tumor angiogenesis by cannabinoids
“Cannabinoids, the active components of marijuana and their derivatives, inhibit tumor growth in animal models… Because the generation of a new vascular supply (angiogenesis) is causally involved in the progression of the majority of solid tumors, the aim of this study was to test whether cannabinoids inhibit tumor angiogenesis.”
“PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
1. Cannabinoid administration inhibits tumor angiogenesis
2. Cannabinoid administration inhibits vascular endothelial cell migration and survival
3. Cannabinoid administration inhibits tumor expression of proangiogenic factors and improves other markers of tumor malignancy
…In the context of the renaissance in the study of the therapeutic effects of cannabinoids, our findings show that these compounds may be considered promising anti-tumoral agents as they inhibit tumor angiogenesis and growth in vivo with no significant side effects.
This report provides a mechanistic basis for the anti-tumoral action of cannabinoids and a novel pharmacological target for cannabinoid-based anti-tumoral therapies…”
Full text: http://www.fasebj.org/content/17/3/529.full
Amphiregulin is a factor for resistance of glioma cells to cannabinoid-induced apoptosis.
“Gliomas, one of the most malignant forms of cancer, exhibit high resistance to conventional therapies. Identification of the molecular mechanisms responsible for this resistance is therefore of great interest to improve the efficacy of the treatments against these tumors. Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major active ingredient of marijuana, and other cannabinoids inhibit tumor growth in animal models of cancer, including glioma, an effect that relies, at least in part, on the ability of these compounds to induce apoptosis of tumor cells.
…we identified the epidermal growth factor receptor ligand amphiregulin as a candidate factor to mediate the resistance of glioma cells to cannabinoid treatment… in vivo silencing of amphiregulin rendered the resistant tumors xenografts sensitive to cannabinoid antitumoral action.
Amphiregulin expression was associated with increased extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation, which mediated the resistance to THC by blunting the expression of p8 and TRB3-two genes involved in cannabinoid-induced apoptosis of glioma cells.
Our findings therefore identify Amphirregulin as a factor for resistance of glioma cells to THC-induced apoptosis and contribute to unraveling the molecular bases underlying the emerging notion that targeted inhibition of the EGFR pathway can improve the efficacy of antitumoral therapies.”
Stimulation of the midkine/ALK axis renders glioma cells resistant to cannabinoid antitumoral action
“Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major active ingredient of marijuana, and other cannabinoids inhibit tumor growth in animal models of cancer, including glioma, an effect that relies, at least in part, on the stimulation of autophagy-mediated apoptosis in tumor cells.
…Altogether, our findings identify Mdk as a pivotal factor involved in the resistance of glioma cells to THC pro-autophagic and antitumoral action, and suggest that selective targeting of the Mdk/ALK axis could help to improve the efficacy of antitumoral therapies for gliomas.”
Full text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3131933/
Stimulation of ALK by the growth factor midkine renders glioma cells resistant to autophagy-mediated cell death
“Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active component of marijuana, promotes cancer cell death via autophagy stimulation.
We find that activation of the tyrosine kinase receptor ALK by its ligand midkine interferes with the signaling mechanism by which THC promotes autophagy-mediated glioma cell death.”