“Oral cancer represents 3% of all cancers and its overall survival rate of 50% places it among the worst of all cancers

For many years cannabinoids have been used for medicinal and recreational purposes.

Recently, studies have focused on the therapeutic effects of cannabinoids on different cancers. The current study was the first to investigate the therapeutic effects of synthetic cannabinoids on oral cancer.

We investigated the effects of cannabinoid receptor agonists on (1) oral cancer cell viability in vitro and (2) oral cancer pain and tumor growth in a mouse cancer model.

Here we demonstrate the anti-nociceptive and anti-proliferative effects of systemic administration of cannabinoid receptor agonists on human oral cancer cells.

Our results suggest that systemic administration of cannabinoids decease oral cancer pain.

Our findings suggest a direct role for cannabinoid mechanisms in oral cancer pain and proliferation.

The systemic administration of cannabinoid receptor agonists may have important therapeutic implications wherein cannabinoid receptor agonists may reduce morbidity and mortality of oral cancer.

The present findings suggest that cannabinoid treatment may be a promising alternative therapy for oral cancer pain management. Furthermore, CBr2 agonism is not only palliative, but it may also be effective in inhibiting oral cancer growth, making the agonist a particularly desirable therapeutic agent.”

Full Text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3099480/