Marijuana And Cancer

[vta]

Marijuana And Cancer

By Robin Wilkey
Source: Huffington Post

medical San Francisco -- A pair of scientists at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco has found that a compound derived from marijuana could stop metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer, potentially altering the fatality of the disease forever.

"It took us about 20 years of research to figure this out, but we are very excited," said Pierre Desprez, one of the scientists behind the discovery, to The Huffington Post. "We want to get started with trials as soon as possible."

The Daily Beast first reported on the finding, which has already undergone both laboratory and animal testing, and is awaiting permission for clinical trials in humans.

Desprez, a molecular biologist, spent decades studying ID-1, the gene that causes cancer to spread. Meanwhile, fellow researcher Sean McAllister was studying the effects of Cannabidiol, or CBD, a non-toxic, non-psychoactive chemical compound found in the cannabis plant. Finally, the pair collaborated, combining CBD and cells containing high levels of ID-1 in a petri dish.

"What we found was that his Cannabidiol could essentially 'turn off' the ID-1," Desprez told HuffPost. The cells stopped spreading and returned to normal.

"We likely would not have found this on our own," he added. "That's why collaboration is so essential to scientific discovery."

Desprez and McAllister first published a paper about the finding in 2007. Since then, their team has found that CBD works both in the lab and in animals. And now, they've found even more good news.

"We started by researching breast cancer," said Desprez. "But now we've found that Cannabidiol works with many kinds of aggressive cancers--brain, prostate--any kind in which these high levels of ID-1 are present."

Desprez hopes that clinical trials will begin immediately.

"We've found no toxicity in the animals we've tested, and Cannabidiol is already used in humans for a variety of other ailments," he said. Indeed, the compound is used to relieve anxiety and nausea, and, since it is non-psychoactive, does not cause the "high" associated with THC.

While marijuana advocates will surely praise the discovery, Desprez explained that it's not so easy as just lighting up.

"We used injections in the animal testing and are also testing pills," he said. "But you could never get enough Cannabidiol for it to be effective just from smoking."

Furthermore, the team has started synthesizing the compound in the lab instead of using the plant in an effort to make it more potent.

"It's a common practice," explained Desprez. "But hopefully it will also keep us clear of any obstacles while seeking approval."

 

[lemonskunk420]

Not as simple as smoking.What about consumption in food in the form of hash,oil,etc.Does it really have to be in the form of a pill.Personally if so I find it hard to believe.Just a way to get big pharma in control. Peace lemon

 

[vta]

Does it really have to be in the form of a pill.Personally if so I find it hard to believe.Just a way to get big pharma in control. Peace lemon

I agree. How can something processed be better or even as good as it's original natural form or an extract? However I can see specialized drugs with say higher amounts of CBD....or when research is finally opened up, mixing different cannabinoids to create something that targets a specific aliment. The bottom line is the 'problem' will not be solved until the plant is truly free. Until that happens people will still go to jail. If cannabis in it's natural form helps someone...then it should be totally legal for them to grow it, posses it, but it, etc... At the same time...Pharma should and will create off-shoot drugs that help serious medical conditions....and that is a good thing. Lobbying to create a monopoly and/or criminal penalties is not.

 

[greenmatter]

if the public actually figured out that weed was the cure for cancer things would get really really interesting

when the politicians were asked why it had been illegal for so long i don't think "no comment" would cover it anymore

there is some irony there that would smash through the thickest drug warrior's skull

 

[lost in a sea]

some of these people would rather die than accept ganja was actually on the "good side".. for one thing their entire mindset and programming is opposed to shamanism (ie curing the mind and body with entheogens) and then years of self repeated propaganda mean the fall and rebirth they would need to accomplish to understand so many things is too great so they go all out and put all their chips on it being the devil..

only humans really fear shame and being ashamed so much that we are actually willing to cause even more pain in running from it, from the light, truth... and not just ourselves, the sub-humane aversion to moral falls has caused the deaths of hundreds of millions.. again its the ego doing it and our greatest problems as a species always come back to the manipulation/seduction of the ego, through love or fear.. desire or dissonance..

 

[headband 707]

Yeah I found this article aswell Makes me mad they have held it down for what reason?

Yeah I found this article aswell Makes me mad they have held it down for what reason?

Pot Compound Seen as Tool Against Cancer
By Victoria Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, September 19 2012
Follow: cancer Health Medical Marijuana science
Marijuana, already shown to reduce pain and nausea in cancer patients, may be promising as a cancer-fighting agent against some of the most aggressive forms of the disease.

A growing body of early research shows a compound found in marijuana - one that does not produce the plant's psychotropic high - seems to have the ability to "turn off" the activity of a gene responsible for metastasis in breast and other types of cancers.

Two scientists at San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute first released data five years ago that showed how this compound - called cannabidiol - reduced the aggressiveness of human breast cancer cells in the lab.

Last year, they published a small study that showed it had a similar effect on mice. Now, the researchers are on the cusp of releasing data, also on animals, that expands upon these results, and hope to move forward as soon as possible with human clinical trials.

"The preclinical trial data is very strong, and there's no toxicity. There's really a lot of research to move ahead with and to get people excited," said Sean McAllister, who along with scientist Pierre Desprez, has been studying the active molecules in marijuana - called cannabinoids - as potent inhibitors of metastatic disease for the past decade.

- Read the entire article at San Francisco Chronicle.

 

[SCF]

Hey VTA, guess what buddy.. MSN got the word and is spreading it!


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4909473...a_ca/t/sf-scientists-marijuana-fights-cancer/


SF Scientists: Marijuana Fights Cancer

The "medical" bit of medical marijuana may be legitimate after all: Turns out a component of cannabis fights cancer, according to research.
Scientists at California Pacific Medical Center found that cannabidiol, or CBD, has the ability to "turn off" the DNA that causes "breast and other types of cancers" to metastasize, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
"If this plant were discovered in the Amazon today, scientists would be falling all over each other to be the first to bring it to market," said Dr. Donald Abrams, chief of oncology at the University of California San Francisco, which has also found science behind marijuana's efficacy.
The drug "has been shown to reduce pain and nausea" in cancer patients, the newspaper reported. AIDS patients also swear by cannabis for its ability to allow them to eat, sleep and otherwise function.
Turns out that cannabidiol has none of the psychotropic effects of marijuana as a whole, according to the newspaper. The researchers hope to move to clinical trials on humans soon.
Cancer cells exposed to cannabidiol lost their abilities to metastasize, according to the newspaper.

 

[headband 707]

Yeah the thing about this study is I heard this one 5 years ago! Why has it taken this long to come to this type of light? Why have so many ppl suffered at the hands of Gov.in the meantime. I understand that some ppl would rather die then use cannabis I have seen this and so be it. I blame the vast array of misinformation on that headband 707

 

[SCF]

Yeah the thing about this study is I heard this one 5 years ago! Why has it taken this long to come to this type of light? Why have so many ppl suffered at the hands of Gov.in the meantime. I understand that some ppl would rather die then use cannabis I have seen this and so be it. I blame the vast array of misinformation on that headband 707

Actually around 2003 we had the study done. so its been almost 10 years. where they did the rat study. The thing is. When they made the Marijuana Tax act. They also made it illegal to study marijuana in a positive limelight. so getting national attention took some big time Scientist to come to the same conclusions. Go figure.


We haven't been talking about THC, CBD, and CBN for a decade plus for no reason. and its not called a TRI chrome for no reason either

It did take them long enough.. repetition does pay off ha ha

 

[supermanlives]

get that shit to market. who cares about rats with cancer.lol we got sick people dying. free the weed. its already been tested safe by millions for a longass time. we need a class action lawsuit and a few million to march for their rights.pisses me off. we are being denied a safe medicine . i consider that a crime

 

[SCF]

get that shit to market. who cares about rats with cancer.lol we got sick people dying. free the weed. its already been tested safe by millions for a longass time. we need a class action lawsuit and a few million to march for their rights.pisses me off. we are being denied a safe medicine . i consider that a crime

Weird thing is, on the first study the actually used Induced Tumors.


Pot Shrinks Tumors; Government Knew in '74
In 1974 researchers learned that THC, the active chemical in marijuana, shrank or destroyed brain tumors in test mice. But the DEA quickly shut down the study and destroyed its results, which were never replicated -- until now.

May 30, 2000

The term medical marijuana took on dramatic new meaning in February, 2000 when researchers in Madrid announced they had destroyed incurable brain tumors in rats by injecting them with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.

The Madrid study marks only the second time that THC has been administered to tumor-bearing animals; the first was a Virginia investigation 26 years ago. In both studies, the THC shrank or destroyed tumors in a majority of the test subjects.

Most Americans don't know anything about the Madrid discovery. Virtually no major U.S. newspapers carried the story, which ran only once on the AP and UPI news wires, on Feb. 29, 2000.
The ominous part is that this isn't the first time scientists have discovered that THC shrinks tumors. In 1974 researchers at the Medical College of Virginia, who had been funded by the National Institute of Health to find evidence that marijuana damages the immune system, found instead that THC slowed the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice -- lung and breast cancer, and a virus-induced leukemia.

The DEA quickly shut down the Virginia study and all further cannabis/tumor research, according to Jack Herer, who reports on the events in his book, "The Emperor Wears No Clothes." In 1976 President Gerald Ford put an end to all public cannabis research and granted exclusive research rights to major pharmaceutical companies, who set out -- unsuccessfully -- to develop synthetic forms of THC that would deliver all the medical benefits without the "high."

The Madrid researchers reported in the March issue of "Nature Medicine" that they injected the brains of 45 rats with cancer cells, producing tumors whose presence they confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). On the 12th day they injected 15 of the rats with THC and 15 with Win-55,212-2 a synthetic compound similar to THC. "All the rats left untreated uniformly died 12-18 days after glioma (brain cancer) cell inoculation ... Cannabinoid (THC)-treated rats survived significantly longer than control rats. THC administration was ineffective in three rats, which died by days 16-18. Nine of the THC-treated rats surpassed the time of death of untreated rats, and survived up to 19-35 days. Moreover, the tumor was completely eradicated in three of the treated rats." The rats treated with Win-55,212-2 showed similar results.

The Spanish researchers, led by Dr. Manuel Guzman of Complutense University, also irrigated healthy rats' brains with large doses of THC for seven days, to test for harmful biochemical or neurological effects. They found none.

"Careful MRI analysis of all those tumor-free rats showed no sign of damage related to necrosis, edema, infection or trauma ... We also examined other potential side effects of cannabinoid administration. In both tumor-free and tumor-bearing rats, cannabinoid administration induced no substantial change in behavioral parameters such as motor coordination or physical activity. Food and water intake as well as body weight gain were unaffected during and after cannabinoid delivery. Likewise, the general hematological profiles of cannabinoid-treated rats were normal. Thus, neither biochemical parameters nor markers of tissue damage changed substantially during the 7-day delivery period or for at least 2 months after cannabinoid treatment ended."

Guzman's investigation is the only time since the 1974 Virginia study that THC has been administered to live tumor-bearing animals. (The Spanish researchers cite a 1998 study in which cannabinoids inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation, but that was a "petri dish" experiment that didn't involve live subjects.)

In an email interview for this story, the Madrid researcher said he had heard of the Virginia study, but had never been able to locate literature on it. Hence, the Nature Medicine article characterizes the new study as the first on tumor-laden animals and doesn't cite the 1974 Virginia investigation.

"I am aware of the existence of that research. In fact I have attempted many times to obtain the journal article on the original investigation by these people, but it has proven impossible." Guzman said.

In 1983 the Reagan/Bush Administration tried to persuade American universities and researchers to destroy all 1966-76 cannabis research work, including compendiums in libraries, reports Jack Herer, who states, "We know that large amounts of information have since disappeared."

Guzman provided the title of the work -- "Antineoplastic activity of cannabinoids," an article in a 1975 Journal of the National Cancer Institute -- and this writer obtained a copy at the University of California medical school library in Davis and faxed it to Madrid.

The summary of the Virginia study begins, "Lewis lung adenocarcinoma growth was retarded by the oral administration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabinol (CBN)" -- two types of cannabinoids, a family of active components in marijuana. "Mice treated for 20 consecutive days with THC and CBN had reduced primary tumor size."

The 1975 journal article doesn't mention breast cancer tumors, which featured in the only newspaper story ever to appear about the 1974 study -- in the Local section of the Washington Post on August 18, 1974. Under the headline, "Cancer Curb Is Studied," it read in part:

"The active chemical agent in marijuana curbs the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice and may also suppress the immunity reaction that causes rejection of organ transplants, a Medical College of Virginia team has discovered." The researchers "found that THC slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent."

Guzman, writing from Madrid, was eloquent in his response after this writer faxed him the clipping from the Washington Post of a quarter century ago. In translation, he wrote:

"It is extremely interesting to me, the hope that the project seemed to awaken at that moment, and the sad evolution of events during the years following the discovery, until now we once again Œdraw back the veil‚ over the anti-tumoral power of THC, twenty-five years later. Unfortunately, the world bumps along between such moments of hope and long periods of intellectual castration."

News coverage of the Madrid discovery has been virtually nonexistent in this country. The news broke quietly on Feb. 29, 2000 with a story that ran once on the UPI wire about the Nature Medicine article. This writer stumbled on it through a link that appeared briefly on the Drudge Report web page. The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times all ignored the story, even though its newsworthiness is indisputable: a benign substance occurring in nature destroys deadly brain tumors.

Raymond Cushing is a journalist, musician and filmmaker. This article was named by Project Censored as a "Top Censored Story of 2000."


http://www.alternet.org/story/9257/pot_shrinks_tumors;_government_knew_in_'74

 

[joedogsong]

It's Just Sad, all of this solid research and yet for some reason it maintains it's schedule one status.
It used to make me angry, not it just saddens me that such blind ignorance has such deep roots...