“In our study, we detected the expression of CB 2…in melanoma…
Results: Our data revealed that CB 2 is unregulated in melanoma.
Conclusions: CB 2 plays a role in the development of melanoma.”
Squamous cell carcinoma over-expresses CB2 at both the protein and mRNA levels. High expression of CB2 in squamous cell carcinoma suggests an important role of CB2 in the tumorigenesis and development of squamous cell carcinoma.”
“Loss of appetite and nausea can reduce the quality of life of patients with malignant melanoma and liver metastases. Often established antiemetic drugs fail to bring relief. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Marinol), which is the active agent of Indian hemp, has been used successfully in this situation for other malignant tumors.
We treated 7 patients with hematogenous metastatic melanoma and liver metastases suffering from extensive loss of appetite and nausea supportively with dronabinol (Marinol. All of these patients had previously received standard antiemetic therapy without adequate relief. Dronabinol is a synthetic Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol. The drug was administered in capsule form. We evaluated the palliative effects of dronabinol with a special patient evaluation form, which was filled out at the beginning of the therapy and again after 4 weeks.
The majority of patients described a significant increase in appetite and decrease in nausea. These effects remained for some weeks, but then decreased as metastases progressed and the general condition worsened. All of the patients experienced slight to moderate dizziness, but it was not sufficiently troubling to cause interruption or termination of therapy.
Loss of appetite and nausea due to liver metastases of malignant melanoma can be treated in individual cases supportively with Dronabinol.”
“Cancer pain remains poorly understood and there are no effective therapies…
We tested whether a local CBr2 agonist produces antinociception. Our findings suggest that a peripheral CBr2 agonist could provide relief for cancer patients. Cannabinoids also potentiate the analgesic effects of morphine and prevent tolerance.
These desirable effects of cannabinoids show promise for management of cancer pain and may lead to improved analgesic therapy.
These findings support the suggestion that cannabinoids are capable of producing antinociception in carcinoma-induced pain.”
Full text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2771220/
“The nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), has great potential for the treatment of chronic and ‘breakthrough’ pain that may occur in certain conditions like cancer. To fulfill this goal, suitable noninvasive drug delivery systems need to be developed for CBD. Chronic pain relief can be best achieved through the transdermal route, whereas ‘breakthrough’ pain can be best alleviated with intranasal (IN) delivery. Combining IN and transdermal delivery for CBD may serve to provide patient needs-driven treatment in the form of a nonaddictive nonopioid therapy.
The results of this study indicated that CBD could be successfully delivered through the IN and transdermal routes.”
“Ultraviolet radiation is the major environmental insult to the skin and stimulates the synthesis of melanin in melanocytes, which then distribute it to the neighboring keratinocytes where it confers photo-protection. Skin color results from the paracrine interaction between these two cell types. Recent studies suggest that endocannabinoids are potential mediators in the skin. Here, we investigated whether cannabinoid drugs play a role in melanogenesis and if ultraviolet radiation modifies the cutaneous endocannabinoid system.
We provide evidence that human melanoma cells (SK-mel-1) express CB(1) receptors…
Furthermore, ultraviolet-B radiation increased endocannabinoids levels only in keratinocytes, whereas CB(1) cannabinoid receptor expression was up-regulated only in melanoma cells.
Our results collectively suggest that ultraviolet radiation activates paracrine CB(1)-mediated endocannabinoid signaling to negatively regulate melanin synthesis.
The endocannabinoid system in the skin may be a possible target for future therapies in pigmentary disorders.”
“The incidence of melanoma is considerably increasing worldwide. Frequent failing of classical treatments led to development of novel therapeutic strategies aiming at managing advanced forms of this skin cancer. Additionally, the implication of the endocannabinoid system in malignancy is actively investigated…
This study suggests the interest of targeting the endocannabinoid system in the management of skin cancer and underlines the advantage of associating endocannabinoids with enzymatic hydrolysis inhibitors.
This may contribute to the improvement of long-term palliation or cure of melanoma.”
Full text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3364151/
“Here are reported the antiproliferative effects of the cannabinoid agonist WIN upon human melanoma cells expressing mRNA and protein for both CB1 and CB2 receptors.
While WIN exerted antimitogenic effects, selective CB1 or CB2 agonists were unable to reproduce such effects and selective CB1 and CB2 antagonists did not inhibit WIN-induced cell death. Cells treated with WIN, preincubated with the lipid raft disruptor methylcyclodestrin, were rescued from death. WIN induced activation of caspases and phosphorylation of ERK that were attenuated in cultures treated with methylcyclodestrin.
Membrane lipid raft complex-mediated antimitogenic effect of WIN in melanoma could represents a potential targets for a melanoma treatment.”
“Cannabinoid refers to a group of chemicals naturally found in the marijuana plant Cannabis sativa L. and includes compounds that are either structurally or pharmacologically similar to Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol or those that bind to the cannabinoid receptors. Although anticancer effects of cannabinoids were shown as early as 1975 in Lewis lung carcinoma, renewed interest was generated little after the discovery of the cannabinoid system and cloning of the specific cannabinoid receptors.
Cannabinoids are a class of pharmacologic compounds that offer potential applications as antitumor drugs, based on the ability of some members of this class to limit inflammation, cell proliferation, and cell survival. In particular, emerging evidence suggests that agonists of cannabinoid receptors expressed by tumor cells may offer a novel strategy to treat cancer. Here, we review recent work that raises interest in the development and exploration of potent, nontoxic, and nonhabit forming cannabinoids for cancer therapy.”
Full Text: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/68/2/339.long
“Cannabinoids inhibit cancer cell proliferation and should be clinically tested as chemotherapeutic agents, according to a review published in the January issue of the journal Cancer Research.
Investigators at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health reported that the administration of cannabinoids halts the spread of a wide range of cancers, including brain cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lymphoma.
Researchers suggested that cannabinoids may offer significant advantages over standard chemotherapy treatments because the compounds are both non-toxic and can uniquely target malignant cells while ignoring healthy ones.
“Cannabinoids … offer potential applications as anti-tumor drugs, based on the ability of some members of this class to limit inflammation, cell proliferation, and cell survival,” authors concluded. “[T]here is overwhelming evidence to suggest that cannabinoids can be explored as chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer.””
Read more: http://norml.org/news/2008/01/31/us-investigators-praise-cannabinoids-as-chemo-treatment