cannabis against cancer: is it just a myth?

 

cannabis against cancer: is it just a myth?

Natural remedies are the only alternative to rebalance our well-being and suitable  for preventing and / or treating primary physiological needs during stressful conditions. Traditional solutions are proving to be less and less effective and recommendable over time, perhaps the main reason, as always, is contained behind the countless economic interests behind them. 

The use of medical cannabis for cancer patients is a very sensitive topic : for a long time the magical powers of cannabis against serious diseases have been boasted and many opponents of modern medicine are very certain that marijuana cures cancer. However, we like to have serious scientific data in hand before making statements and therefore we decided to read up on the real anticancer properties of cannabinoids. 

The treatments based on cannabis and derivatives are meeting more and more positive feedback and are increasingly accepted by medical-scientific practice. Without a doubt, THC and CBD-based drugs have beneficial effects for the treatment and management of many diseases and many other medical applications are still under study , some of the ones that seem to be the most promising concern the anticancer abilities of phytocannabinoids. 

In the fight against cancer, medical cannabis is already widely used in many parts of the world  (including Italy) for the control of pain and for the management of some of the specific symptoms of this type of pathology and the side effects of aggressive treatments reserved for people. who suffer from it. We are talking about insomnia, anxiety and depression, loss of appetite, nausea (often induced by chemotherapy). In short, it seems established and recognized that the consumption of cannabinoids can help to cope with everyday life for a person with cancer , but what we would like to do in this article is a further step, cannabis can limit or counter the spread of diseases. tumors? 

If this were the case, we would talk about having a very safe drug available and almost free from side effects, which could be used in conjunction with other existing therapies and, in addition to assisting the treatments, would also help manage the side effects.

In short, it would be wonderful and not for nothing scientific research is focusing on this type of theories with numerous experiments.

Cannabis effective against cancer: the pre-clinic says yes

In addition to treating symptoms, cannabinoids could be efficient in directly fighting the replication and spread of different types of cancer cells , in vitro studies and those on animal guinea pigs on this subject abound and generally support the thesis that cannabinoids have the ability to trigger selective aggressive mechanisms against cancer cells, without thereby damaging healthy ones. The very big limitation of this piece of research is that clinical trials on patients are very scarce and to date they cannot confirm the promising data.

Apparently, however, the pre-clinical is clear in this regard: cannabinoids have an antitumor action, in particular positive studies have been confirmed on lung, breast and pancreas tumors, in cases of brain tumor and on myeloma . 

Promising 2018 in vitro research  on the anticancer effects of CBD even claims that cannabidiol can inhibit the release of certain cancer cell structures (resistant to chemotherapy drugs) that promote cancer proliferation. These elements are called exosomes and microvesicles are involved in intercellular communication that leads to the transmission of the tumor genetic trend between cells.

According to this study that has attracted international attention, it seems that CBD is a natural inhibitor of the release of exosomes and microvesicles , at least as regards three specific types of cancer cells: prostate cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and breast adenocarcinoma. In the study published in Frontiers in Pharmacology, CBD significantly reduced the release of exosomes in all three types of cancer cells and inhibited (albeit to a lesser extent) the release of microvesicles.

Researchers suggest cannabidiol may also be used to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy ; other studies, this time on guinea pigs, have shown that cannabinoids are able to inhibit tumor growth by inducing apoptosis of malignant cells, in practice triggering a voluntary death of what causes tumors to proliferate, in addition to this they demonstrate antiangiogenic effects ( that favor the blocking of the functions of the blood vessels that promote tumor growth).

Another study in mice showed that cannabinoids can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the colon and therefore could reduce the risk of cancer ; again with regard to colon cancer cells (one of the most widespread oncological pathologies) we also want to mention a very promising research from the Department of Pharmacology at Penn State College of Medicine which strongly supports the anticancer capabilities of a specific group of cannabinoids selected by them and tested in vitro.  

It is good to reiterate that the studies we have cited were carried out in the pre-clinical stage and that there is still no evidence of efficacy in humans  that can be considered validating for these theories.

What is growing, however, is the attention of the scientific world in the search for a cannabinoid-based cure for cancer, a hope of a reliable and safe pharmacological solution that can replace (or more credibly support) today's treatments, increasing the chances of survival of cancer patients.

-- BONGAE