Cannabis compound ‘halts cancer’

“A compound found in cannabis may stop breast cancer spreading throughout the body, US scientists believe.

The California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute team are hopeful that cannabidiol or CBD could be a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy.

Unlike cannabis, CBD does not have any psychoactive properties so its use would not violate laws, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics reports.

CBD works by blocking the activity of a gene called Id-1 which is believed to be responsible for the aggressive spread of cancer cells away from the original tumour site – a process called metastasis.

This compound offers the hope of a non-toxic therapy that could achieve the same results without any of the painful side effects.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7098340.stm

Cannabis plant extract ‘could stop aggressive cancers from spreading’

“A compound found in cannabis could halt the spread of many forms of aggressive cancer, scientists say.

Researchers found that the compound, called cannabidiol, had the ability to ‘switch off’ the gene responsible for metastasis in an aggressive form of breast cancer. Importantly, this substance does not produce the psychoactive properties of the cannabis plant.”

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2206056/Cannabis-compound-stop-breast-cancer-spreading.html#ixzz29PKHhfoL
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Marijuana Fights Cancer and Helps Manage Side Effects, Researchers Find

 “Mounting evidence shows ‘cannabinoids’ in marijuana slow cancer growth, inhibit formation of new blood cells that feed a tumor, and help manage pain, fatigue, nausea, and other side effects.

“Cannabidiol offers hope of a non-toxic therapy that could treat aggressive forms of cancer without any of the painful side effects of chemotherapy,” says McAllister, who is seeking support to conduct clinical trials with the marijuana compound on breast cancer patients.

Within the medical science community, the discovery that cannabinoids have anti-tumoral properties is increasingly recognized as a seminal advancement in cancer therapeutics.”
 

Marijuana And Cancer: Scientists Find Cannabis Compound Stops Metastasis In Aggressive Cancers

“A pair of scientists at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco has found that a compound derived from marijuana could stop metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer, potentially altering the fatality of the disease forever.

“What we found was that Cannabidiol could essentially ‘turn off’ the ID-1,” Desprez told HuffPost. The cells stopped spreading and returned to normal.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/marijuana-and-cancer_n_1898208.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

Cannabinoids: A new hope for breast cancer therapy?

“Experimental evidence accumulated during the last decade supports that cannabinoids, the active components of Cannabis sativa and their derivatives, possess anticancer activity… these compounds exert anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic, anti-migratory and anti-invasive actions in a wide spectrum of cancer cells… Moreover, tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis are hampered by cannabinoids… our current knowledge on the anti-tumor potential of cannabinoids in breast cancer… suggests that cannabinoid-based medicines may be useful for the treatment of most breast tumor subtypes.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22776349 

Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits cell cycle progression in human breast cancer cells through Cdc2 regulation.

” Here, we show that Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), through activation of CB(2) cannabinoid receptors, reduces human breast cancer cell proliferation by blocking the progression of the cell cycle and by inducing apoptosis… these data might set the bases for a cannabinoid therapy for the management of breast cancer.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16818634

 

CANNABINOIDS: POTENTIAL ANTICANCER AGENTS

The study by Manuel Guzmán of Madrid Spain found that cannabinoids, the active components of marijuana, inhibit tumor growth in laboratory animals. They do so by modulating key cell-signalling pathways, thereby inducing direct growth arrest and death of tumor cells, as well as by inhibiting the growth of blood vessels that supply the tumor.

http://americanmarijuana.org/Guzman-Cancer.pdf 

Cannabis Science Reports: National Cancer Institute Updates Confirm Successful Cancer Treatments with Medical Cannabis

“As we’ve previously reported, one of the most interesting findings that has emerged since the discovery of the endocannabinoid system (marijuana like compounds produced by humans, and all vertebrates) is that cannabinoids have profound cancer-killing and anti-metastatic properties.

There is strong scientific support, demonstrated in tissue culture and animal studies, of the potent cancer killing properties of cannabinoids for such deadly cancers as glioma, lung cancer, breast and prostate cancer, leukemias and lymphomas, and as well as skin cancers.”

http://www.cannabisscience.com/index.php/news-media/news-archive/195-cannabis-science-reports-national-cancer-institute-updates-confirm-successful-cancer-treatments-with-medical-cannabis

“Cannabis Science, Inc. (OTCBB:CBIS), a pioneering US biotech company developing pharmaceutical cannabis products, is pleased to report a government released update on cancer treatments using medical cannabis (marijuana), updated March 17, 2011, summarizing how the treatment of cancer with cannabinoids goes beyond the simple treatment of symptoms and side effects by exhibiting possible direct antitumor activities.

This summary contains the following key information:

– Cannabis has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years prior to its current status as an illegal substance.

– Chemical components of Cannabis, called cannabinoids, activate specific receptors found throughout the body to produce pharmacologic effects, particularly in the central nervous system and the immune system.

– Cannabinoids may have benefits in the treatment of cancer-related side effects.

– The potential benefits of medicinal Cannabis for people living with cancer include antiemetic effects, appetite stimulation, pain relief, and improved sleep.

– Though no relevant surveys of practice patterns exist, it appears that physicians caring for cancer patients who prescribe medicinal Cannabis predominantly do so for symptom management.

– Unlike other commonly used drugs, cannabinoids are stored in adipose tissue and excreted at a low rate (half-life 1-3 days).

– Even abrupt cessation of cannabinoid intake is not associated with rapid declines in plasma concentrations that would precipitate severe or abrupt withdrawal symptoms or drug cravings.

Robert Melamede, Ph.D., Cannabis Science’s CEO stated, “As we’ve previously reported, one of the most interesting findings that has emerged since the discovery of the endocannabinoid system (marijuana like compounds produced by humans, and all vertebrates) is that cannabinoids have profound cancer-killing and anti-metastatic properties. There is strong scientific support, demonstrated in tissue culture and animal studies, of the potent cancer killing properties of cannabinoids for such deadly cancers as glioma, lung cancer, breast and prostate cancer, leukemias and lymphomas, and as well as skin cancers.

Currently the federal government prohibitionist position on cannabis is hindering the medical community by delaying vitally important clinical cannabis research.

 I was quite elated when I recently saw that the NCI posted on their webpage

“In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal Cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.”

 I foolishly thought that finally there would be official recognition of the modern peer reviewed science that shows the cancer killing properties of cannabinoids. Sadly, this statement was removed, without comment, within hours of its posting.””

More: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/221024.php