Cannabis a cure for cancer?

Here's more evidence disputing the prohibition profiteers' contention that this plant has no medicinal value. New research shows that cannabis may provide a method for treating deadly brain tumors by blocking the growth of the blood vessels which feed them. Although the results are still preliminary, they show great promise.

An active component of the street drug has previously been shown to improve brain tumours in rats. But now Manuel Guzmán at Complutense University, Spain, and colleagues have demonstrated how the cannabis extracts block a key chemical needed for tumours to sprout blood vessels – a process called angiogenesis.

And for the first time, the team has shown the cannabinoids impede this chemical in people with the most aggressive form of brain cancer - glioblastoma multiforme.

I have to admit, this stuff kind of goes over my head but it sures sounds hopeful.

The team tested the effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in 30 mice. They found the marijuana extract inhibited the expression of several genes related to the production of a chemical called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

VEGF is critical for angiogenesis, which allows tumours to grow a network of blood vessels to supply their growth. The cannabinoid significantly lowered the activity of VEGF in the mice and two human brain cancer patients, the study showed.

The drug did this by increasing the activity of a fat molecule called ceramide, suggests the study, as adding a ceramide inhibitor stifled the ability of the cannabinoid to block VEGF.

For the medical folks that read this blog, you can find the technical information in this Journal: Cancer Research (vol 64, p 5617). One can't help but wonder when the US is going to enable our own scientists to conduct meaningful research as well, instead of spending our tax dollars on trying to prevent its use.