Scientists study cannabinoids for the treatment of cancer

Veröffentlicht von Juan Cervantes

26 July 2015

An 26. Februar 2014

For decades, scientists in Spain and other countries have been researching the effectiveness of marijuana in treating cancer. Dr Cristina Sanchez is a molecular biologist at the University of Madrid (Spain) and, together with her team, has done extensive research on the anti-tumour effects of cannabinoids over the last 12 years. Her lab is not the only one investigating the potential of cannabis in this context. In many parts of the world, including the USA, the ability of cannabinoids to fight different types of cancer has been demonstrated.

In an interview with Cannabis Planet TV, Dr Sanchez describes how her team came to the discovery and the special property of cannabinoids on cancer cells. She and her team came to research more intensively with cannabinoids and their effect on tumour cells more or less by chance. It turned out that the cannabinoid THC, as a main component in cannabis, is able to kill cancer cells in the petri dish. So logically, it was suspected that cannabis could have an anti-tumour effect and further research was done.

Zunächst wurden in Tiermodellen Brustkrebs und Gehirntumore mit der Verbindung von Cannabis genauer analysiert. Es zeigte sich, dass Cannabis eine wirksame Behandlungsmöglichkeit bei Brustkrebs darstellt und auch bei weitern Versuchen im Zusammenhang mit Gehirntumoren, stellten sich Cannabinoide als äußerst wirksame Waffe gegen das Tumorwachstum heraus.
Das Team begann nun mit Experimenten in Tiermodellen mit Glioblastomen und Gehirntumoren, und stellte fest, dass Cannabinoide für eine Verringerung des Tumorwachstums sorgten. Es gibt verschiedene Wege, auf denen Zellen sterben können. Bei der Cannabinoid-Behandlung sterben Krebszellen „auf eine saubere Weise“. Sie begehen nämlich Selbstmord, auch bekannt als Apoptose. Das ist genau das, was bei einer Anti-Tumorwirkung wünschenswert ist.

Marijuana has the distinct advantage over all other drugs related to the disease that it has no toxic effect on normal cells (like chemotherapy, for example). When Dr Sanchez's team discovered the anti-tumour effects, they decided to focus their research entirely on this topic. The team is in contact with doctors from all over Spain who are willing to integrate medical marijuana into their treatment.

Besides THC, CBD is a very special cannabinoid. It is not psychoactive, but it is an extremely powerful antioxidant. It protects the brain from stress and damage and kills cancer cells. When combined with THC, it has a synergistic effect, which means that the effectiveness of THC against cancer cells is increased. At the present time, there is already sufficient evidence of the effectiveness and anti-tumour properties of cannabis.
Thus, Dr. Sanchez comes to a similar conclusion as numerous other studies with cannabis.

Here is a detailed video with Dr Sanchez: