The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies.
They say this is the first set of experiments to show that the compound, Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), inhibits EGF-induced growth and migration in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Lung cancers that over-express EGFR are usually highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy.
THC that targets cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 is similar in function to endocannabinoids, which are cannabinoids that are naturally produced in the body and activate these receptors. The researchers suggest that THC or other designer agents that activate these receptors might be used in a targeted fashion to treat lung cancer.
“The beauty of this study is that we are showing that a substance of abuse, if used prudently, may offer a new road to therapy against lung cancer,” said Anju Preet, Ph.D., a researcher in the Division of Experimental Medicine.
Acting through cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2, endocannabinoids (as well as THC) are thought to play a role in variety of biological functions, including pain and anxiety control, and inflammation. Although a medical derivative of THC, known as Marinol, has been approved for use as an appetite stimulant for cancer patients, and a small number of U.S. states allow use of medical marijuana to treat the same side effect, few studies have shown that THC might have anti-tumor activity, Preet says. The only clinical trial testing THC as a treatment against cancer growth was a recently completed British pilot study in human glioblastoma.
In the present study, the researchers first demonstrated that two different lung cancer cell lines as well as patient lung tumor samples express CB1 and CB2, and that non-toxic doses of THC inhibited growth and spread in the cell lines. “When the cells are pretreated with THC, they have less EGFR stimulated invasion as measured by various in-vitro assays,” Preet said.
Then, for three weeks, researchers injected standard doses of THC into mice that had been implanted with human lung cancer cells, and found that tumors were reduced in size and weight by about 50 percent in treated animals compared to a control group. There was also about a 60 percent reduction in cancer lesions on the lungs in these mice as well as a significant reduction in protein markers associated with cancer progression, Preet says.
Although the researchers do not know why THC inhibits tumor growth, they say the substance could be activating molecules that arrest the cell cycle. They speculate that THC may also interfere with angiogenesis and vascularization, which promotes cancer growth.
Preet says much work is needed to clarify the pathway by which THC functions, and cautions that some animal studies have shown that THC can stimulate some cancers. “THC offers some promise, but we have a long way to go before we know what its potential is,” she said.
Staci Vernick Goldberg
[email protected]
267-646-0616
Great article and backs up what so many people already know in regards to THC and healing our bodies. Keep Up the great work sharing important info like this http://www.howtogrowweed420.com
burs veren kurumlar
burs başvuruları
burs veren vakıflar
burs baş vurusu
burs sorgulama
burs veren şirketler
Folks, here are the only reasons marijuana is illegal: The Cotton Industry, The Lumber Industry, The Paper Industry, The Oil Industry, The Pharmaceutical Industry. Now, go and do some deep research and you will see that it is all about money, and the currently established industries and the threat the legal hemp poses to them. Hemp can create a greener environment, offer incredible medicinal properties and cure disease, it’s more versatile than any cotton product for cloth and other textiles, it can make 12 times the paper products as lumber and all grow back in a year, it’s seeds are more nutritious than soy and used (secretly) to feed the world’s hungry because it is so good for you, and the seed’s oils can replace many oils we use today for mechanical things. I could go on. Folks, it is the biggest scam of the power hungry corporations ever to keep hemp illegal. It has NOTHING to do with anything else…guaranteed. What amazes me, is that legalizing it…if only for industrial uses, would create jobs, make a greener environment, and just help all the way around. By the way, they already know how to grow it without the THC. Research it. Think about it. This will save our country.
The study was funded by the “National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug abuse. The largest study of it’s kind using over 1200 people..Federal Health and Drug Enforcement Officials have widely used Tashkins previous work. Tashkin says ” THC MAY KILL AGING CELLS AND KEEP THEM FROM BECOMING CANCEROUS. Tashkin found that even very heavy marijuana smokers showed no increased evidence of the 3 cancers studied.
My apologies, this was supposed to be a post in reply to “Quit Smoking”
Please note those statistics are for stopping smoking CIGARETTES. While it might seem fair to compare the inhalation of one burning compound to another, it’s a false assumption. Ingestion is different, composition is different, and the volume of product consumed is radically different.
For what it’s worth, while it’s reasonable to assume at least SOME of the negative health consequences associated with cigarette smoking are shared, the science doesn’t exist to support that conclusion.
the benefits of quitting smoking far outweigh the reasons to NOT stop smoking, in fact check this list of improvements you should expect to see in your physical/mental health if you quit smoking.
Source: http://www.researchmalignantmesothelioma.com
If You Already Have Lung Cancer
If you already have lung cancer, it is best advised to stop smoking immediately. When you quit smoking, here are the benefits you achieve over time:
After 20 minutes – Your blood pressure will drop and heart rate beats will increase.
After 12 hours – The amount of Carbon Monoxide in your blood system drops to normal level.
After 2 weeks – 3 months – Lung function and circulation of blood from lungs to other organs of the body improves significantly.
After 1 – 9 Months – Shortness of breath & coughing decrease, functions of Cilia (small hair-like substances that get rid of Mucus from the lungs) become normal, your lungs become cleaner, and your risk of catching infections decreases.
After 1 year – Risk of Coronary heart diseases drops by 50%
After 5 years – Risk of Strokes drops to that of a non-smoker who quit smoking 5-15 years ago.
After 10 years – Risk of lung cancer death drops by 50% as well risk of mouth, throat, esophagus, pancreas or Bladder cancer also drops.
After 15 years – Risk of coronary heart diseases becomes that of a non-smoker.
what are you talking about…
bob marley died from cancer in his foot, not lung cancer
this is great information…im sure that Jesus would love this!
but for some reason when i think about how they explain it (i did not read the whole article) but that if you already have the lung cancer or other is then it would protect you form it……
a man one told me(not Jesus)that marijauna ever so slightly would gard your lungs from lung cancer.
so prase the Lord for the finding if this information!! next step is for the world to make marijauna legal.
so pray to God and Jesus….whom ever you pray to..
i was reached to this site by a link and i am so happy i read helpful inforamtion about the research..
http://health-news-newyork.blogspot.com
THC isn’t the only powerful natural cancer cure. more at http://www.goodbyehealthinsurance.com
werd
makes you swim real fast too.
Bob Marley would disagree.
It’s because it’s not a war on (some) drugs, it’s a war on minorities, and the easiest way to recoup our losses from the north winning the civil war is to stuff our prisons to replace slave labor with prison labor. Outlawing substances that minorities used instead of drinking the white man’s alcohol. Read tinyurl.com/1mn and tinyurl.com/potconviction for more info/order ‘The Marijuana Conviction’ from half.com).
Check out “Hemp for Victory” too, published by the USDA in 1942 begging farmers to grow hemp ‘for the war.’
To the moron who says pot is bad for you mentally and physically, you might want to do a little research on recent studies so you can stop embarrassing yourself with your ignorance.
First report to read: Dr. Donald Tashkin’s groundbreaking 2006 study on lung cancer and cannabis. Tashkin is a government researcher whose studies have long been used by prohibitionists to suggest that cannabis is dangerous. Tashkin performed a long-term study that compared lung cancer rates among tobacco smokers, cannabis smokers and non-smokers. Guess who had the highest lung-cancer rates? That’s right, the tobacco smokers. Now, guess who had the lowest lung-cancer rates? If you said non-smokers, you are wrong. It was the cannabis smokers who had the lowest lung-cancer rates.
Most of the mainstream media ignored this story, perhaps because they get federal advertising dollars (a.k.a. your taxes) to run nonsensical anti-drug ads.
Not every media outlet blew it, though – Fox News carried a very balanced report on the Tashkin study – see http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196678,00.html
After you read Tashkin (or at least the Fox report) then do a Google search on cancer and cannabis. There are numerous studies suggesting cannabinoids have tumor-shrinking qualities, as well as other potential health benefits.
If you want to avoid cannabis, you are free to do so. But intelligent, informed people know better, and using an archaic law and bad information to try and punish them for their knowledge isn’t just unethical, it’s criminal.
Do you know what else is used to treat cancer? Mostly poisons. If you took most chemotherapy drugs recreationaly, you’d probably be dead in a few years. I’m all for legalizing marijuana, but this is NOT the reason to do it. Please stop giving pot lovers a bad name by spouting this as proof it should be legalized. Or any of that “it grows in the ground” BS. So do thousands of things that kill you.
i smoke ma weed but i dont drink,coz i know alcohol is a drug that most of the people in this world find get addicted,but ma point is that y doesn’t the government legalise weed since its natural n they remove alcohol.
accordin to ma subject,i smoke weed n i love weed,but how much can a person take a day fo recreation.
I wish I had learned earlier about THC benefitting those suffering from lung cancer.
At least I now know that vaporizing high quality water-extracted resin glands is a healthier means of ingesting THC.
I also just recently learned that creating/maintaining a more alkaline state in the body (approx 7.4pH) can also benefit everyone, including those with cancer. This can be done by regularly drinking alkaline water.