Madrid, Spain: Cannabinoids’ palliative effects in cancer patients and ability to inhibit the growth of certain types of malignant tumors make them a potentially desirable agents in the treatment of cancer, according to a clinical review published in this month’s issue of the journal, Nature Reviews Cancer.
Cannabinoids prevent nausea, vomiting and pain in cancer patients, as well as stimulate appetite, the author writes. Furthermore, “cannabinoids are usually well tolerated, and do not produce the generalized toxic effects of conventional chemotherapies. … In addition, these compounds have been shown to inhibit the growth of tumor cells in culture and animal models.”
The author concludes that further pre-clinical research into marijuana’s anti-cancer properties is required, and that “it would be desirable that clinical trials could accompany these laboratory studies to allow [for the] use [of] these compounds in the treatment of cancer.”
Studies published earlier this year demonstrated that marijuana and its derivatives induce tumor regression in rodents, including the inhibition of malignant gliomas (brain tumors) and skin cancer.
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Full text of the study, entitled “Cannabinoids: potential anticancer agents,” is available in the October 2003 issue of the journal Nature Reviews Cancer.