The data is very strong and there's no
toxicity associated with a compound found in cannabis could halt the
spread of many forms of aggressive cancer, scientists say.
The first research to show marijuana's
anti-tumor properties was presented at the American Association for
Cancer Research meeting in Los Angeles in 2007 demonstrating that THC
may activate biological pathways that halt cancer cell division or
block development of blood vessels that feed tumors.
It then became a target of synthetic
research into THC for drugs such as ImClone System Inc.'s Erbitux and
Amgen Inc.'s Vectibix.
Researchers have now 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.
The team from the California Pacific
Medical Center, in San Francisco, first spotted its potential five years
ago, after it stopped the proliferation of human breast cancer cells in
the lab.
Last year they published a study that
found a similar effect in mice. Now they say they are on the verge of
publishing further animal study results that expand these results
further.
Nonpsychoactive cannabinoids, such as
cannabidoil, are particularly advantageous to use because they avoid
toxicity that is encountered with psychoactive cannabinoids at high
doses useful in the method of the present invention. CBD (Cannabidiol),
one of the main constituents of the cannabis plant has been proven
medically to relieve many diseases including the inhibition of cancer
cell growth.
Speaking to the
San Francisco Chronicle,
study co-leader Dr Sean McAllister, said: ‘The preclinical trial data
is very strong, and there’s no toxicity. There’s really a lot or
research to move ahead with and to get people excited.’
While he, along with colleague Dr Pierre
Desprez acknowledge that they are some way off from turning their
finding into a pill, they are already developing human trial models.
They hope to eventually test the drug in combination with current
chemotherapies.
Professor Desprez had previously found
that a protein called ID-1 seemed to play a role in causing breast
cancer to spread. Meanwhile Dr McAllister had discovered the cannabidiol
had anti-cancer potential.
The pair teamed up to see if they could
treat a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer called ‘triple
negative.’ This form, which affects 15 per cent of patients, doesn’t
have three hormone receptors that the most successful therapies target.
Cells from this cancer have high levels of ID-1.
When they exposed cells from this cancer
to cannabidiol they were shocked to find the cells not only stopped
acting ‘crazy’ but also returned to a healthy normal state.
They discovered that the compound had turned off the overexpression of ID-1, stopping them from travelling to distant tissues.
Other potentially treatable cancers are
forms of leukaemia, lung, ovarian and brain cancers, which also have
high levels of ID-1.
Dr Desprez has a particular reason for
wanting to create a treatment as quickly as possible – his sister was
recently diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer at the age of 41.
Her condition is currently receptive to
hormone therapies but Professor Desprez fears it could recur in a form
that lacks hormone receptors.
He said: ‘I want to be ready for that. There is a deadline.’
Cannabis is a Class B drug that is
illegal to have, give away or sell. “If cannabis were discovered in an
Amazon rainforests today, people would be clambering to make as much use
as they could out of the potential benefits of the plant,” said Donald
L. Abrams, MD, Chief of Hematology and Oncology at San Francisco General
Hospital and Professor of Medicine at the University California.
Dr. Abrams is widely known for his
research on medical cannabis applications. “Unfortunately, it carries
with it a long and not so long history of being a persecuted plant,” he
added.
Source:
http://worldtruth.tv
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