Marijuana may help fight cancer: Study
4/4/09
by Neharika Sabharwal
Seems like Bob Marley wasn't kidding when he claimed marijuana can be good for
you. Marijuana has anti-cancerdefine properties, which may prove beneficial in
the treatment of malignant cells in the brain, claims a new study.
Researchers from Complutense University in Madrid have found that “the active
component of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, causes cancerdefine cells
to undergo a process called autophagy. This is the breakdown that occurs when
the cell essentially self-digests."
Co-author of the study, Guillermo Velasco, and his team explained that the
introduction of THC in the brain appears "to kill cancer cells, while it does
not affect normal cells."
The research was primarily done on mice. The scientists introduced cancer into
the mice and then gave them THC daily. Two patients with highly aggressive brain
tumors were also examined in an experimental trial. Both patients had been
enrolled in a clinical trial designed to test THC's potential as a cancer
therapy. The scientists administered THC treatment on the skull.
They then analyzed the brain tissue using electron microscopes both before and
after a 26- to 30-day THC treatment trial.
The researchers found that THC eliminated cancer cells while it left healthy
cells intact, giving a clear indication of the curative value of marijuana. The
team also made another discovery when they tracked the signaling route by which
this process was activated.
"We found that the anti-tumoral action of THC is based on its ability to
activate an intracellular signalling pathway that promotes the activation of a
cellular process called 'autophagy'. The activation of this pathway leads to
cancer cell death," revealed Guillermo Velasco.
The researchers declared that the work shows how "a new family of potential
antitumoral agent" exists among THC and is related to cannabinoids.
Velasco stated that the "The potential use of cannabinoid (marijuana) based
medicines in now being investigated.”
Cannabis-based medicine is comparatively cheaper as opposed to other anti-cancer
drugs found in the market. However, the scientists feel more intense study is
needed before the commercial prospects of marijuana as an anti-cancer medicine
are ascertained.
"It is difficult to predict whether that (marijuana-based medicines) could have
a real impact in the cost of cancer therapies as the future of these treatments
is based in combining different agents," added Velasco.
Dr. John S. Yu, co-director of the Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program in the
Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los
Angeles, commented, "So this is yet another indication that THC has an
anti-cancer effect, which means it's certainly worth further study.
“But it does not suggest that one should jump at marijuana for a potential cure
for cancer, and one should not urge anyone to start smoking pot right away as a
means of curing their own cancer."
The research appears in the April edition of US-published Journal of Clinical
Investigation.