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Read how cannabis
compares to
other cancer treatments.
Cannabis is used to combat pain caused by various cancers and nausea induced by chemotherapy agents. Over 30 human clinical trials examining the effects of cannabis or synthetic cannabinoids on nausea, not including several U.S. state trials that took place between 1978 and 1986.16 In reviewing this literature, Hall et al. concluded that "… THC [delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol] is superior to placebo, and equivalent in effectiveness to other widely-used anti-emetic drugs, in its capacity to reduce the nausea and vomiting caused by some chemotherapy regimens in some cancer patients."17 A 2003 study found "Cannabinoids - the active components of Cannabis sativa and their derivatives - exert palliative effects in cancer patients by preventing nausea, vomiting and pain and by stimulating appetite. In addition, these compounds have been shown to inhibit the growth of tumor cells in culture and animal models by modulating key cell-signaling pathways. Cannabinoids are usually well tolerated, and do not produce the generalized toxic effects of conventional chemotherapies."18 Authors of the Institute of Medicine report, "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," acknowledged that there are certain cancer patients for whom cannabis should be a valid medical option.19 A random-sample anonymous survey was conducted in the spring of 1990 measuring the attitudes and experiences of oncologists concerning the antiemetic use of cannabis in cancer chemotherapy patients. Of the respondents expressing an opinion, a majority (54%) thought cannabis should be available by prescription.20
More than eighteen major studies published between 2001 and 2003 showed that the chemicals in cannabis known as cannabinoids have a significant effect fighting cancer cells. We now know cannabinoids arrest many kinds of cancer growths (brain, breast, leukemic, melanoma, phaeochromocytoma, et al.) through promotion of apoptosis (programmed cell death) that is lost in tumors, and by arresting angiogenesis (increased blood vessel production). Recent scientific advances in the study of cannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoids have produced exciting new leads in the search for anti-cancer treatments. There is growing evidence of direct anti-tumor activity of cannabinoids, specifically CB1 and CB2 agonists, in a range of cancer types including brain (gliomas), skin, pituitary, prostate and bowel. The antitumor activity has led in laboratory animals and in-vitro human tissues to regression of tumors, reductions in vascularisation (blood supply) and metastases (secondary tumors), as well as direct inducement of death (apoptosis) among cancer cells. Indeed, the complex interactions of endogenous cannabinoids and receptors are leading to greater scientific understanding of the mechanisms by which cancers develop. The findings of these studies are borne out by the reports of such patients as Steve Kubby and Irvin Rosenfeld, whose cannabis use is credited with keeping rare, terminal cancers in a state of remission for decades beyond conventional expectations.
Although cannabis smoke has been shown to have precancerous-causing effects in animal tissue, epidemiological studies have failed to link cannabis smoking with cancer.21,22 If smoke inhalation is a concern, cannabis can be used with a vaporizer, orally in baked goods, and topically as a tincture or a suppository. Cannabinoids, the active components of cannabis, have been shown to exhibit anti-tumor properties. Multiple studies published between 2001 and 2003 found that cannabinoids inhibit tumor growth in laboratory animals.23-27 In another study, injections of synthetic THC eradicated malignant brain tumors in one-third of treated rats, and prolonged life in another third by as much as six weeks.28 Other journals have also reported on cannabinoids' antitumoral potential.29-35 Italian research teams reported in 1998 and 2001 that the endocannabinoid anandamide, which binds to the same brain receptors as cannabis, "potently and selectively inhibits the proliferation of human breast cancer cells in vitro" by interfering with their DNA production cycle.36-38 Cannabis has been shown in recent studies to inhibit the growth of thyroid, prostate and colorectal cancer cells.39-41 THC has been found to cause the death of glioma cells.42,43 And research on pituitary cancers shows cannabinoids are key to regulating human pituitary hormone secretion.44-47 |
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