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Brain Tumors

Discussion in 'Medical Marijuana Usage and Applications' started by Don Piano, Jan 11, 2010.

  1. This was cut and pasted from Business Week. Not sure if it has been posted, and I know that we have known these things for a while, but here goes a good read anyway.:smoking:



    MONDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Preliminary research suggests that a combination of compounds in marijuana could help fight off a particularly deadly form of brain cancer.
    But the findings shouldn't send patients rushing to buy pot: the levels used in the research appear to be too high to obtain through smoking. And there's no sign yet that the approach works in laboratory animals, let alone people.
    Still, the finding does suggest that more than one compound in marijuana might boost cancer treatment, said study author Sean McAllister, an associate scientist at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco. "Combination therapies might be more appropriate," McAllister said.
    Researchers have long studied the compounds in marijuana known as cannabinoids, which are thought to hold possible health benefits. One, known as THC, is well known for its role in making people high when they smoke or eat pot. Researchers have been testing it as a treatment for the brain tumors known as glioblastomas.
    In the new study, researchers tested THC and cannabidiol, another compound from marijuana, on brain cancer cells. The findings appear in the January issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
    The study authors found that the combination treatment seemed to work better at killing the cancerous cells and preventing them from growing back.
    About 9,000 people in the United States develop glioblastomas each year, said Dr. Paul Graham Fisher, chief of the Division of Child Neurology at Stanford University and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The most famous patient was the late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy.
    The prognosis for people with the condition is grim because tumors spread throughout the brain. It can be impossible for treatments to remove the entire tumor, Fisher said.
    "No matter what you do, this tumor has a larger border than you ever think," he said. "We know there are microscopic satellites all throughout one side of the brain and pretty soon in the other side of the brain. The only thing that will fix this disease is something that provides a more blanket approach."
    Instead of targeting the tumors itself, he explained, treatments need to do something like disrupt the pathways that cancer cells use to communicate.
    In the big picture, "you're seeing a lot more thinking outside the box about trying to treat glioblastoma," he said. "I think in the next 10 to 15 years we're going to start seeing progress forward."
    For now, he said, there's no evidence that marijuana is good or bad for glioblastoma tumors.
    Back in the laboratory, McAllister said the next step is to test the combination treatment on laboratory animals and then on people. The treatment may be given to people directly through the brain, which could be expensive. But the compounds themselves may not be expensive, McAllister said.
    As for the idea of getting the same effect through a couple of marijuana joints, he had this to say: "It's unlikely that you could reach effective concentrations by smoking the plant."
     
  2. More info from "Granny Storm Crow's MMJ Reference List"
    (Stickied in the Medical section! See my sig for how to get your own FREE copy!)


    CANCER- GLIOMA/ BRAIN/ HEAD

    Anti-tumor effects of cannabidiol
    Short News November 9th 3002

    Cancer Killer
    Latest News - U.S. War on Drugs Stalling Mind-Blowing Research into Pot's Cancer-Healing Properties

    Cannabinoids Inhibit the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Pathway in Gliomas
    Cannabinoids Inhibit the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Pathway in Gliomas -- Blázquez et al. 64 (16): 5617 -- Cancer Research

    Inhibition of Glioma Growth in Vivo
    http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/reprint/61/15/5784.pdf

    Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.
    Clinical Studies and Case Reports

    Cannabidiol triggers caspase activation and oxidative stress in human glioma cells.
    iHOP - The non-psychoactive cannabidiol triggers caspase activation and oxidative stress in human glioma cells.

    Cannabis extract makes brain tumors shrink, halts growth of blood vessels
    Cannabis extract makes brain tumors shrink, halts growth of blood vessels

    THC tested against brain tumour in pilot clinical study
    International Association for Cannabis as Medicine

    THC inhibits cell cycle progression in human glioblastoma multiforme cells by downregulation of E2F1 in human glioblastoma multiforme cells
    Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits cell cycle progression by downregulation of E2F1 in human glioblastoma multiforme cells.

    Down-regulation of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 in gliomas
    Down-regulation of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 in gliomas: a new marker of cannabinoid antitumoral activity?

    Cannabinoids inhibit glioma cell invasion by down-regulating matrix metalloproteinase-2 expression.
    Cannabinoids inhibit glioma cell invasion by down-regulating matrix metalloproteinase-2 expression.

    Anti-Tumor Effects
    Anti-Tumor Effects

    Cannabinoids Induce Cancer Cell Proliferation via Tumor Necrosis Factor {alpha}-Converting Enzyme (TACE/ADAM17)-Mediated Transactivation of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor
    Cannabinoids Induce Cancer Cell Proliferation via Tumor Necrosis Factor {alpha}-Converting Enzyme (TACE/ADAM17)-Mediated Transactivation of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor -- Hart et al. 64 (6): 1943 -- Cancer Research

    Marijuana ingredient may reduce tumours-study
    Reuters AlertNet - Marijuana ingredient may reduce tumours-study

    Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells
    Journal of Clinical Investigation -- Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells

    Cannabidiol inhibits human glioma cell migration through a cannabinoid receptor-independent mechanism
    Cannabidiol inhibits human glioma cell migration through a cannabinoid receptor-independent mechanism

    Targeting astrocytomas and invading immune cells with cannabinoids: a promising therapeutic avenue.
    Unbound MEDLINE | Targeting astrocytomas and invading immune cells with cannabinoids: a promising therapeutic avenue. Journal article abstract

    Cannabinoid action induces autophagymediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells.
    Unbound MEDLINE | Cannabinoid action induces autophagymediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells. Journal article abstract

    Cannabis use and cancer of the head and neck: Case-control study
    Cannabis use and cancer of the head and neck: Case-control study

    Cannabinoids selectively inhibit proliferation and induce death of cultured human glioblastoma multiforme cells.
    Cannabinoids selectively inhibit proliferation and... [J Neurooncol. 2005] - PubMed result


    And although they claim in the original article that smoking won't give a strong enough dose, there are other methods that should give high enough of a dose- Rick Simpson's oil, for one!

    What do you think we could do with cannabis, if research was freely allowed? Most of those studies were done with the US bullying every one NOT to do cannabis research! And yet, there they are! I have over 150 pages of MMJ links like those.



    Granny :wave:
     

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