Cancer Forums - Complementary and Alternative Medicine

phoenixtears · Regular Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 17

THC and Lung Cancer

Scientific Daily article from April 17 2007

Researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies say THC cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread.

This is the first set of experiments to show that the compound, Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), inhibits EGF-induced growth and migration in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Lung cancers that over-express EGFR are usually highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy.

THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 is similar in function to endocannabinoids, which are cannabinoids that are naturally produced in the body and activate these receptors. The researchers suggest that THC or other designer agents that activate these receptors might be used in a targeted fashion to treat lung cancer.

Researchers injected standard doses of THC into mice that had been implanted with human lung cancer cells, and found that tumors were reduced in size and weight by about 50 percent in treated animals compared to a control group.

There was also about a 60 percent reduction in cancer lesions on the lungs in these mice as well as a significant reduction in protein markers associated with cancer progression.

The researchers do not know why THC inhibits tumor growth, they say the substance could be activating molecules that arrest the cell cycle. They speculate that THC may also interfere with angiogenesis and vascularization, which promotes cancer growth.
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You never know....until you find out!

phoenixtears · Regular Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 17

A Study on THC and Brain Cancer Cells

Using the same tests used to judge new chemotherapies, the SETH (sethgroup.org) team discovered that this herbal compound kills human brain tumor cells at a concentration that is nontoxic to normal brain cells.

A computerized microscope captured images of the cells every 5 minutes to compile the time-lapse videos. After 20 hours of treatment, Δ9-THC kills all cancer cells but leaves normal brain cells alive. Cell death is evidenced by cells shrinking to inanimate whitespheres.

Parallel experiments were performed testing the effect of Δ9-THC on human brain cancer cells (glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM) and also on normal brain cells. Putting this herbal compound through the same tests that a new chemotherapeutic agent would go through revealed a potent and remarkably specific anti-cancer effect. Both types of cells were treated with the same concentration of Δ9-THC but after 20 hours only the cancer cells died.

Implications: The implication is that this plant compound could be a safe medicine against brain tumors, without the side effects of chemotherapy.

These exciting results may be just the tip of the iceberg, however, because Δ9-THC is only one of many active compounds (*see note) in medicinal cannabis. Other active constituents of the Cannabis plant (called cannabinoids) are also likely to have a nontoxic anti-cancer action.

*phoenixtears note:
Some 66 phytocannabindoids (plant based) have been found, most of them chemically in-active when ingested into the body as well as containing hundreds of chemical substances that are not unique to it, including terpenes and flavinoids known to exert biological effects.
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You never know....until you find out!

phoenixtears · Regular Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 17

THC and Migraines, Nausea, Pain management and spasticity in patients with Multiple Sclerosis

phoenixtears note:

Yes.

Though the do-it-yourself essential oil works marvelously and provides an effective, curative level of THC for CB1 receptor/pathways (and CBD for CB2 receptor/pathways) in its natural form as an oil (no need to concentrate further), you can be sure that patented products like this one will be entering the market.
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[b]Synthetic THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) Inhaler [/b]

New Synthetic Delta-9-THC Inhaler Offers Safe, Rapid Delivery, Phase I Study

Dronabinol is a synthetic version of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which is one of more than 400 compounds found in the Cannabis sativa plant

Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc announced the results of a Phase I study evaluating the safety and tolerability of pulmonary dronabinol administered in a one-time dose using a pressurized metered dose inhaler.

The study found the new formulation of pulmonary dronabinol, delivered with a pressurized metered dose inhaler, provided rapid systemic absorption. All dose levels used in the research were considered safe in healthy young and elderly subjects.

"Pulmonary dronabinol has potential application in a variety of conditions, such as the treatment of migraines, nausea, pain management and spasticity in patients with multiple sclerosis."
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You never know....until you find out!

phoenixtears · Regular Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 17

THC and Colo-Rectal Cancer

The cannabinoid delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits RAS-MAPK and PI3K-AKT survival signalling and induces BAD-mediated apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells.

Greenhough A, Patsos HA, Williams AC, Paraskeva C.
Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Cancer Research UK, Colorectal Tumour Biology Group, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol, United Kingdom.

Deregulation of cell survival pathways and resistance to apoptosis are widely accepted to be fundamental aspects of tumorigenesis. As in many tumours, the aberrant growth and survival of colorectal tumour cells is dependent upon a small number of highly activated signalling pathways, the inhibition of which elicits potent growth inhibitory or apoptotic responses in tumour cells.

Accordingly, there is considerable interest in therapeutics that can modulate survival signalling pathways and target cancer cells for death.

There is emerging evidence that cannabinoids, especially Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), may represent novel anticancer agents, due to their ability to regulate signalling pathways critical for cell growth and survival.

Here, we report that CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors are expressed in human colorectal adenoma and carcinoma cells, and show for the first time that THC induces apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells.

THC treatment resulted in CB1-mediated inhibition of both RAS-MAPK/ERK and PI3K-AKT survival signalling cascades; two key cell survival pathways frequently deregulated in colorectal tumours.

These data suggest an important role for CB1 receptors and BAD in the regulation of apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells.

The use of THC, or selective targeting of the CB1 receptor, may represent a novel strategy for colorectal cancer therapy.
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You never know....until you find out!

phoenixtears · Regular Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 17

THC and melanoma cancer

phoenixtears note:

In the film, Run From The Cure

Rick Simpson (and others) applied the Essential Oil topically..... a dab of the oil on a bandaide, to his 3 areas of Basal Cell Carcinoma, near his eye, his forehead and chest. All areas healed rapidly.

Since producing the oil and sharing with others beginning in 2003, he reported that subsequent treatments with other patients using direct topical application, any and all tissue areas of mutating cell growth, i.e., diabetic sores, skin moles, warts etc. responded to the oil and healed. Topical application to Scar tissue showed beneficial response as well.
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Cannabinoid receptors as novel targets for the treatment of melanoma.

Bl¨¢zquez C, Carracedo A, Barrado L, Real PJ, Fern¨¢ndez-Luna JL, Velasco G, Malumbres M, Guzm¨¢n M.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of Biology, Complutense University, 28040 Madrid, Spain.

Melanoma causes the greatest number of skin cancer-related deaths worldwide. Despite intensive research, prevention and early detection are the only effective measures against melanoma, so new therapeutic strategies are necessary for the management of this devastating disease.

Here, we evaluated the efficacy of cannabinoid receptor agonists, a new family of potential antitumoral compounds, at skin melanoma. Human melanomas and melanoma cell lines express CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors.

Activation of these receptors decreased growth, proliferation, angiogenesis and metastasis, and increased apoptosis, of melanomas in mice.

Cannabinoid antimelanoma activity was independent of the immune status of the animal was selective for melanoma cells vs. normal melanocytes.

Cannabinoid antiproliferative action on melanoma cells was due, at least in part, to cell cycle arrest at the G1-S transition via inhibition of the prosurvival protein Akt and hypophosphorylation of the pRb retinoblastoma protein tumor suppressor.

These findings may contribute to the design of new chemotherapeutic strategies for the management of melanoma.

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You never know....until you find out!
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You never know....until you find out!

phoenixtears · Regular Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 17

CBD and Breast Cancer

Cannabis compound stops spread of breast cancer: researchers
Last Updated: Monday, November 19, 2007 | 11:52 AM ET CBC News

California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute

...Cannabis compound CBD could provide a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy for cancer treatments.

Previous research has shown the compound can block human brain cancers, and recent lab experiments have shown it may be able to do the same for breast cancer. "Right now we have a limited range of options in treating aggressive forms of cancer. Those treatments, such as chemotherapy, can be effective but they can also be extremely toxic and difficult for patients," said researcher Dr. Sean McAllister in a release.

"This compound offers the hope of a non-toxic therapy that could achieve the same results without any of the painful side effects." CBD works by blocking the activity of gene Id-1, which is associated with metastasis ¡ª the spread of cancer cells away from the original tumor site.

The compound does not share marijuana's psychoactive properties.

"We know that Id-1 is a key regulator of the spread of breast cancer," said senior author Dr. Pierre-Yves Desprez in a release. "We also know that Id-1 has also been found at higher levels in other forms of cancer.

So what is exciting about this study is that if CBD can inhibit Id-1 in breast cancer cells, then it may also prove effective at stopping the spread of cancer cells in other forms of the disease, such as colon and brain or prostate cancer."

Researchers stressed that they were not encouraging cancer patients to smoke pot, adding that it would be highly unlikely for patients to receive an effective concentration of the compound in that way.
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phoenixtears note:

As noted previously, smoking/inhaling is probably the LEAST effective way to take advantage of the medicinal purpose of this plant.

Through the decades, most of the seeds and hybrid plants found in California and the U.S. have been bred to enhance the THC production of the plant, at the expense of CBD.

It was once thought, the CBD cannabinoid compound, which interacts with the CB2 receptors in our body, was a "decayed" form of THC. That is now known to be false.

CBD is a separate and distinct compound, and specific varieties of the plant (predominantly Sativa strains) have shown much higher levels of this compound retained together with THC as well.
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CBD Breast Cancer and Leukemia

Science: Cannabidiol inhibits tumour growth in leukaemia and breast cancer in animal studies

Italian researchers investigated the anti-tumour effects of five natural cannabinoids of the cannabis plant (cannabidiol, cannabigerol, cannabichromene, cannabidiol-acid and THC-acid) in breast cancer. Cannabidiol (CBD) was the most potent cannabinoid in inhibiting the growth of human breast cancer cells that had been injected under the skin of mice. CBD also reduced lung metastases deriving from human breast cancer cells that had been injected into the paws of the animals.

Researchers found that the anti-tumour effects of CBD were caused by induction of apoptosis (programmed cell death). They concluded that their data "support the further testing of cannabidiol and cannabidiol-rich extracts for the potential treatment of cancer."

These observations are supported by investigations of US scientists who found out that exposure of leukaemia cells to CBD led to a reduction in cell viability and induction of apoptosis. In living animals CBD caused a reduction in number of leukaemia cells. The scientists noted that CBD "may be a novel and highly selective treatment for leukemia."
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You never know....until you find out!

phoenixtears · Regular Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 17

THC and Pancreatic Cancer

Cannabinoids Induce Apoptosis of Pancreatic Tumor Cells via Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress–Related Genes

Arkaitz Carracedo1, Meritxell Gironella2, Mar Lorente1, Stephane Garcia2, Manuel Guzmán1, Guillermo Velasco1 and Juan L. Iovanna2

1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of Biology, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain and 2 U624 Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, Marseille, France

Pancreatic adenocarcinomas are among the most malignant forms of cancer and, therefore, it is of especial interest to set new strategies aimed at improving the prognostic of this deadly disease.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the action of cannabinoids, a new family of potential antitumoral agents, in pancreatic cancer.

We show that cannabinoid receptors are expressed in human pancreatic tumor cell lines and tumor biopsies at much higher levels than in normal pancreatic tissue. Studies conducted with MiaPaCa2 and Panc1 cell lines showed that cannabinoid administration

(a) induced apoptosis,
(b) increased ceramide levels, and
(c) up-regulated mRNA levels of the stress protein p8.

These effects were prevented by blockade of the CB2 cannabinoid receptor or by pharmacologic inhibition of ceramide synthesis de novo.

Cannabinoids also reduced the growth of tumor cells in two animal models of pancreatic cancer.

In addition, cannabinoid treatment inhibited the spreading of pancreatic tumor cells. Moreover, cannabinoid administration selectively increased apoptosis and TRB3 expression in pancreatic tumor cells but not in normal tissue.

In conclusion, results presented here show that cannabinoids lead to apoptosis of pancreatic tumor cells via a CB2 receptor and de novo synthesized ceramide-dependent up-regulation of p8 and the endoplasmic reticulum stress–related genes ATF-4 and TRB3.

These findings may contribute to set the basis for a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(13): 6748-55)
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