A study by researchers at Harvard Medical School was published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics in 2011 characterizing the mechanism underlying the antitumoral properties of cannabidiol (CBD). This study showed that CBD induced both apoptosis and autophagy-induced death in breast cancer cells and inhibited the survival of both estrogen receptor-positive and estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer cell lines. These data enhance the desirability of CBD as an anticancer agent, because they suggest that CBD preferentially kills breast cancer cells, while minimizing damage to normal breast tissue.
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In 2005, the British Journal of Pharmacology published a study evaluating the ability of cannabidiol (CBD) to impair the migration of tumor cells and thus act as a potential antitumoral compound. The results of the study reinforce the evidence of antitumoral properties of CBD, demonstrating its ability to limit tumor invasion, although the mechanism of its pharmacological effects remains to be clarified. This antimigratory property, together with the known antiproliferative and apoptotic features of CBD, strengthen the evidence for its use as a potential antitumoral agent.
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Published in the February 2015 issue of Lancet Psychiatry is this study looking at psychosis linked to use of potent cannabis. The risk of individuals having a psychotic disorder showed a roughly three-times increase in users of skunk-like cannabis compared with those who never used cannabis. Read More
This study, published in the June 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, describes more than 100 patients reporting about the therapeutic satisfaction with their pharmaceutical-grade cannabis product. Furthermore, differences in subjective effects among the available strains are investigated. Read More
Cannabis sativa is the source of a unique set of compounds known collectively as plant cannabinoids or phytocannabinoids. This review published in 2008 in the Journal of British Pharmacology focuses on the manner with which three of these compounds, (_)-trans-D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (D9-THC), (_)-cannabidiol (CBD) and (_)-trans-D9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (D9-THCV), interact with cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2. Read More
Cannabis and Multiple Sclerosis: Is driving safe for MS patients who use cannabis for resistant spasticity? In this poster presentation by German neurologists they show that THC:CBD oromucosal spray (Sativex), when used for 4-6 weeks by patients with multiple sclerosis, did not harm driving skills. As a matter of fact, there was significant improvement in a motor reaction task test. Read More
This study out of Spain and published in October 2013, confirms the antiproliferative and antiinvasive effects of CBD in two different glioma cell lines. Interestingly, these effects can also be extended to glioma cells that are well known to be D9-THC-resistant. This data adds further insights into CBD antitumor action, showing its ability to influence multiple cellular targets in the two cell lines with partial overlap. Read More
The concomitant administration of various non-psychoactive plant cannabinoids demonstrates synergistic anti-cancer activity in human leukemia cells, according to preclinical trial data published online in the October 2013 journal Anticancer Research. They explored the activity of six cannabinoids, used both alone and in combination in leukemic cells. Cannabinoids were cytostatic and caused a simultaneous arrest at all phases of the cell cycle. Read More
From the Indian Journal of Urology in 2012 comes this information regarding cannabis and prostate cancer: ‘It is our conclusion that it would be of interest to conduct clinical trials involving medicinal cannabis or other cannabinoid agonists, comparing clinical markers such as PSA with controls, especially in men with bone metastatic prostate cancer, whom would not only benefit from the possible anti-androgenic effects of cannabinoids but also from analgesia of bone pain, improving quality of life, while reducing narcotic consumption and preventing opioid dependence.’ Read More
Research out of Germany, published in April, 2012, demonstrated for the first time that increased intercellular adhesion molecule-1 levels elicited by CBD (cannabidiol) result in a decrease of tumor cell invasion and metastasis in the lungs.