Cancer research and cannabis

[littlbit]

Jan-11-2008 11:47 <h1 class="title">Breakthrough Discovered in Medical Marijuana Cancer Treatment</h1> Tim King Salem-News.com Researchers learned that cannabinoids have been associated with anti-carcinogenic effects, which are responsible in preventing or delaying the development of cancer.

 

http://www.salem-news.com/stimg/january112008/marijuana_leaf330.jpg

Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - A new study reveals that Medical Marijuana can be an effective treatment for cancer, that is the word announced by doctors in Germany who concluded that this clarification of the mechanism of cannabinoid action may help investigators to further explore their therapeutic benefit.

 

The medical article was originally published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute Advance Access and online on December 25th 2007.

 

Cancer cells that were treated with combinations of cannabinoids, antagonists of cannabinoid receptors, and small interfering ribo nucleic acid or 'siRNA' to tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) were assessed for invasiveness, protein expression, and activation of signal transduction pathways.

 

The biggest contribution of this breakthrough discovery, is that the expression of TIMP-1 was shown to be stimulated by cannabinoid receptor activation and to mediate the anti-invasive effect of cannabinoids.

 

In other words, they learned that treatment with cannabinoids, one of the active ingredients of the medicinal side of marijuana, has been shown to reduce the invasiveness of cancer cells. Prior to now the cellular mechanisms underlying this effect were unclear and the relevance of the findings to the behavior of tumor cells in vivo remains to be determined.

 

It is already known that marijuana can stimulate the appetite of patients, but researchers have learned that cannabinoids, in addition to having palliative benefits in cancer therapy, have been associated with anti-carcinogenic effects, which are responsible in preventing or delaying the development of cancer.

 

"Although the anti-proliferative activities of cannabinoids have been intensively investigated, little is known about their effects on tumor invasion," the article stated.

 

Method

 

In this now completed round of research, Matrigel-coated and uncoated Boyden chambers were used to quantify invasiveness and migration, respectively, of human cervical cancer 'HeLa' cells that had been treated with cannabinoids.

 

 

The stable anandamide analog R(+)-methanandamide 'MA' and the phytocannabinoid 9-tetrahydrocannabinol 'THC' in the presence or absence of antagonists of the CB1 or CB2 cannabinoid receptors or of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) or inhibitors of p38 or p42/44 mitogen–activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways.

 

A method known as 'reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction' and immunoblotting were used to assess the influence of cannabinoids on the expression of matrix metalloproteinases and endogenous tissue inhibitors. The role of TIMP-1 in the anti-invasive action of cannabinoids was analyzed by transfecting HeLa, human cervical carcinoma, or human lung carcinoma cells cells with siRNA targeting TIMP-1.

 

They say all statistical tests were two-sided.

 

Results

 

Without modifying migration, MA and THC caused a time and concentration-dependent suppression of HeLa cell invasion through Matrigel that was accompanied by increased expression of TIMP-1.

 

At the lowest concentrations tested, MA and THC led to a decrease in cell invasion.

 

"The stimulation of TIMP-1 expression and suppression of cell invasion were reversed by pretreatment of cells with antagonists to CB1 or CB2 receptors, with inhibitors of MAPKs, or, in the case of MA, with an antagonist to TRPV1. Knockdown of cannabinoid-induced TIMP-1 expression by siRNA led to a reversal of the cannabinoid-elicited decrease in tumor cell invasiveness in HeLa, A549, and C33A cells."

 

The researchers concluded that increased expression of TIMP-1 mediates an anti-invasive effect of cannabinoids. That means that in our future, cannabinoids may offer a therapeutic option in the treatment of highly invasive cancers.

 

Special thanks to the JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and to Burkhard Hinz, PhD, Institute of Toxicology and Pharmacology, University of Rostock and the affiliation of authors: Institute of Toxicology and Pharmacology, University of Rostock in Rostock, Germany.

 

The original report published by Oxford University Press was titled, "Inhibition of Cancer Cell Invasion by Cannabinoids via Increased Expression of Tissue Inhibitor of Matrix Metalloproteinases-1Robert Ramer, Burkhard Hinz."

 

 

 

 

 

This topic I will try to post into as much information as possible, everyone who finds yet more please post it here, Lets really gather the mountain of information, to bury Nicola Roxon and the other prohibitionists, up to their necks in genuine science, in total opposition to their statistics.

[Guest niall]

From http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle_blog/2...earcher_changes:

 

For 30 years, Donald Tashkin has studied the effects of marijuana on lung function. His work has been funded by the vehemently anti-marijuana National Institute on Drug Abuse, which has long sought to demonstrate that marijuana causes lung cancer. After 3 decades of anti-drug research, here's what Tashkin has to say about marijuana laws:

"Early on, when our research appeared as if there would be a negative impact on lung health, I was opposed to legalization because I thought it would lead to increased use and that would lead to increased health effects," Tashkin says. "But at this point, I'd be in favor of legalization. I wouldn't encourage anybody to smoke any substances. But I don't think it should be stigmatized as an illegal substance. Tobacco smoking causes far more harm. And in terms of an intoxicant, alcohol causes far more harm." [McClatchy]

We've been told a thousand times that marijuana destroys your lungs, that it's 5 times worse than cigarettes, and on and on. Yet here is Donald Tashkin, literally the top expert in the world when it comes to marijuana and lung health, telling us it's time to legalize marijuana. His views are shaped not by ideology, but rather by the 30 years he spent studying the issue. He didn't expect the science to come out in favor of marijuana, but that's what happened and he's willing to admit it.

 

Here's the study that really turned things around:

UCLA's Tashkin studied heavy marijuana smokers to determine whether the use led to increased risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. He hypothesized that there would be a definitive link between cancer and marijuana smoking, but the results proved otherwise.

"What we found instead was no association and even a suggestion of some protective effect," says Tashkin, whose research was the largest case-control study ever conducted.

 

Prejudice against marijuana and smoking in general runs so deep for many people that it just seems inconceivable that marijuana could actually reduce the risk of lung cancer. But that's what the data shows and it not only demolishes a major tenet of popular anti-pot propaganda, but also points towards a potentially groundbreaking opportunity to develop cancer cures through marijuana research.

 

Over and over again, all the bad things we've been told about marijuana are revealed to be not only false, but often the precise opposite of the truth. So the next time someone tells you that marijuana is worse for your lungs than cigarettes, you might want to mention that the world's leading expert on that subject happens to be a supporter of legalization.