FACT! - GANJA/WEED HELPS FIGHT CANCER
from - tiré de : http://www.soop.ca/potfacts/cancer.html 7/28/2008
Who could imagine that cannabis might one day offer hope as a cure for cancer?
The United States government, that’s who. For the past 30 years, U.S. officials have willfully ignored clinical research indicating that marijuana can inhibit the growth of certain type of malignant
tumors. However, the recent publication of a trio of clinical studies and a pair of
scientific reviews have effectively blown the lid off "Cancergate," and revealed
that pot’s medical value may be far greater than ever presumed.
THE EMERGING EVIDENCE
Recently, five scientific journals published prominent articles trumpeting
cannabinoids (compounds in marijuana) as potential anti-cancer agents.
These include:
Clinical trial data published in January 2003 issue of the Journal of the
American Society of Clinical Investigation that found cannabinoids
significantly inhibit skin tumor growth in mice. Investigators of the study
concluded, "The present data indicate that local cannabinoids
administration may constitute an alternative therapeutic approach for the
treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer."
Clinical trial data published in the March 2003 issue of The FASEB Journal
that found that the "local administration of a non-psychoactive
cannabinoid inhibits angiogenesis (tissue growth) of malignant gliomas
(brain tumors)."
A clinical review in the October 2003 issue of the prestigious journal
Nature Reviews Cancer that concluded that cannabinoids’ "favorable drug
safety profile" and proven ability to inhibit tumor growth make them
desirable agents in the treatment of cancer. According to the review’s
author, tumors inhibited by cannabinoids include: lung carcinoma, glioma,
thyroid epithelioma, lymphoma/leukemia, skin carcinoma, uterus
carcinoma, breast carcinoma, prostate carcinoma, and neuroblastoma (a
malignant tumor originating in the autonomic nervous system or the
adrenal medulla and occurring chiefly in infants and young children).
Clinical trial data published in the November 2003 issue of the Journal of
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics that found the
administration of the cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) inhibits the growth of
human glioma cells both in vitro (e.g., a petri dish) and in animals in a
dose-dependent manner. Investigators concluded, "Non-psychoactive CBD
produce[s] a significant antitumor activity both in vitro and in vivo, thus
suggesting a possible application of CBD as an antine plastic agent
(something which prevents the growth of malignant cells.)"
And finally, a clinical review in the December 2003 issue of the journal
Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets that summarized "the
demonstrated antitumor actions of cannabinoids," and elaborated on
"possible avenues for the future development of cannabinoids as
antitumor agents."
AND SUBSEQUENT MEDIA BLACKOUT
Despite these stunning findings, media coverage of them in North America has
been virtually non-existent. As noted by Richard Cowan, editor of the website
MarijuanaNews.com, "The New York Times, The Washington Post and Los Angeles
Times all ignored this story, even though its newsworthiness is indisputable: a
benign substance occurring in nature destroys deadly brain tumors."
Why the media blackout? For starters, all of these studies were conducted
overseas. And secondly, not one of them has been acknowledged by the U.S.
government.
U.S. KNEW IN ’74... AND AGAIN IN ’96!
This wasn’t always the case. In fact, the first ever experiment documenting
pot’s anti-tumor effects took place in 1974 at the Medical College of Virginia at
the behest of the U.S. government. The results of that study, immortalized in an
August 18, 1974 Washington Post newspaper feature, were 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."
Despite these favorable preliminary findings, U.S. government officials banished
the study, and refused to fund any follow up research until conducting a similar –
though secret – study in the mid-1990s. That study, conducted by the U.S.
National Toxicology Program to the tune of $2 million concluded that mice and
rats administered high doses of THC over long periods had greater protection
against malignant tumors than untreated controls. However, rather than
publicize their findings, government researchers shelved the results – which only
became public one year later after a draft copy of its findings were leaked in
1997 to the journal AIDS Treatment News, which in turn forwarded the story to
the national media.
Nevertheless, in the nearly eight years since the completion of the National
Toxicology trial, the U.S. government has yet to fund a single additional study
examining pot’s potential as an anti-cancer agent.
SCIENCE IGNORED NO MORE
Fortunately, researchers at Madrid, Spain’s Complutense University, School of
Biology have generously picked up where U.S. researchers so abruptly left off. In
1998, the research team – led by investigator Manuel Guzman – discovered that
THC can selectively induce program cell death in brain tumor cells without
negatively impacting the surrounding healthy cells. Then in 2000, Guzman’s
team reported in the journal Nature Medicine that injections of synthetic THC
eradicated malignant gliomas (brain tumors) in one-third of treated rats, and
prolonged life in another third by six weeks. A commentary to the study noted
that the results were the first to convincingly demonstrate that cannabis-based
treatments may successfully combat cancer.
Today, Guzman believes that enough favorable clinical evidence exists
supporting pot’s anti-cancer properties to warrant clinical trials in humans. "The
scientific community has gained substantial knowledge of the palliative and antitumor
actions of cannabinoids during the past few years," Guzman wrote in the
October 2003 issue of Nature Reviews Cancer. "Anti-tumor compounds should
selectively affect tumor cells [and] it seems that cannabinoids can do this, as
they kill [malignant] tumor cells but do not affect their non-transformed
counterparts and might even protect them from cell death. ... As cannabinoids
are relatively safe compounds, it would be desirable that clinical trials using
cannabinoids ... could accompany [ongoing] laboratory studies to allow us to use
these compounds in the treatment of cancer." Guzman concludes the article by
noting that the Spanish Ministry of Health recently approved a human clinical
trial – the first ever – aimed at investigating the effects of intracranially
administered THC on the life expectancy of volunteers suffering from malignant
brain tumors.
"Cannabinoid research continues to show tremendous potential in the treatment
of cancer," summarizes University of Southern California professor Mitch
Earleywine, author of the book Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the
Scientific Evidence. However, he laments that the "vast majority of this work
originates outside the United States, often in countries that lack our economic
and scientific advantages. Let’s hope that our drug policy won’t stymie the
battle against the second leading cause of death in America."
Indeed. Let’s not add a potential treatment for cancer to the ever-growing list
of victims of pot prohibition.
Paul Armentano [send him mail] is the senior policy analyst for the NORML
Foundation in Washington, DC.
SEARCH
Search
Web www.soop.ca
|| Copyright 2006 soop.ca ||
Complete Cancer Clinic
IRB Reviewed Cancer Treatments.
Oncology & Elite Natural Medicine.
www.Envita.com
11 Ways to Fight Cancer
Learn about the weaknesses
cancer has & how to effectively
reverse it
www.CancerFightingStrategies.com
Liver Cancer Treatment
Did you know that Chinese herbs
can easily treat Liver Cancer?
www.HNMRC.net
Smokers Life Insurance
Healthy Smokers, Pay Less for Life
Insurance in Canada. Learn more!
www.assure-all.com
Who could imagine that cannabis might one day offer hope as a cure for cancer?
The United States government, that’s who. For the past 30 years, U.S. officials have willfully ignored clinical research indicating that marijuana can inhibit the growth of certain type of malignant
tumors. However, the recent publication of a trio of clinical studies and a pair of
scientific reviews have effectively blown the lid off "Cancergate," and revealed
that pot’s medical value may be far greater than ever presumed.
THE EMERGING EVIDENCE
Recently, five scientific journals published prominent articles trumpeting
cannabinoids (compounds in marijuana) as potential anti-cancer agents.
These include:
Clinical trial data published in January 2003 issue of the Journal of the
American Society of Clinical Investigation that found cannabinoids
significantly inhibit skin tumor growth in mice. Investigators of the study
concluded, "The present data indicate that local cannabinoids
administration may constitute an alternative therapeutic approach for the
treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer."
Clinical trial data published in the March 2003 issue of The FASEB Journal
that found that the "local administration of a non-psychoactive
cannabinoid inhibits angiogenesis (tissue growth) of malignant gliomas
(brain tumors)."
A clinical review in the October 2003 issue of the prestigious journal
Nature Reviews Cancer that concluded that cannabinoids’ "favorable drug
safety profile" and proven ability to inhibit tumor growth make them
desirable agents in the treatment of cancer. According to the review’s
author, tumors inhibited by cannabinoids include: lung carcinoma, glioma,
thyroid epithelioma, lymphoma/leukemia, skin carcinoma, uterus
carcinoma, breast carcinoma, prostate carcinoma, and neuroblastoma (a
malignant tumor originating in the autonomic nervous system or the
adrenal medulla and occurring chiefly in infants and young children).
Clinical trial data published in the November 2003 issue of the Journal of
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics that found the
administration of the cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) inhibits the growth of
human glioma cells both in vitro (e.g., a petri dish) and in animals in a
dose-dependent manner. Investigators concluded, "Non-psychoactive CBD
produce[s] a significant antitumor activity both in vitro and in vivo, thus
suggesting a possible application of CBD as an antine plastic agent
(something which prevents the growth of malignant cells.)"
And finally, a clinical review in the December 2003 issue of the journal
Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets that summarized "the
demonstrated antitumor actions of cannabinoids," and elaborated on
"possible avenues for the future development of cannabinoids as
antitumor agents."
AND SUBSEQUENT MEDIA BLACKOUT
Despite these stunning findings, media coverage of them in North America has
been virtually non-existent. As noted by Richard Cowan, editor of the website
MarijuanaNews.com, "The New York Times, The Washington Post and Los Angeles
Times all ignored this story, even though its newsworthiness is indisputable: a
benign substance occurring in nature destroys deadly brain tumors."
Why the media blackout? For starters, all of these studies were conducted
overseas. And secondly, not one of them has been acknowledged by the U.S.
government.
U.S. KNEW IN ’74... AND AGAIN IN ’96!
This wasn’t always the case. In fact, the first ever experiment documenting
pot’s anti-tumor effects took place in 1974 at the Medical College of Virginia at
the behest of the U.S. government. The results of that study, immortalized in an
August 18, 1974 Washington Post newspaper feature, were 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."
Despite these favorable preliminary findings, U.S. government officials banished
the study, and refused to fund any follow up research until conducting a similar –
though secret – study in the mid-1990s. That study, conducted by the U.S.
National Toxicology Program to the tune of $2 million concluded that mice and
rats administered high doses of THC over long periods had greater protection
against malignant tumors than untreated controls. However, rather than
publicize their findings, government researchers shelved the results – which only
became public one year later after a draft copy of its findings were leaked in
1997 to the journal AIDS Treatment News, which in turn forwarded the story to
the national media.
Nevertheless, in the nearly eight years since the completion of the National
Toxicology trial, the U.S. government has yet to fund a single additional study
examining pot’s potential as an anti-cancer agent.
SCIENCE IGNORED NO MORE
Fortunately, researchers at Madrid, Spain’s Complutense University, School of
Biology have generously picked up where U.S. researchers so abruptly left off. In
1998, the research team – led by investigator Manuel Guzman – discovered that
THC can selectively induce program cell death in brain tumor cells without
negatively impacting the surrounding healthy cells. Then in 2000, Guzman’s
team reported in the journal Nature Medicine that injections of synthetic THC
eradicated malignant gliomas (brain tumors) in one-third of treated rats, and
prolonged life in another third by six weeks. A commentary to the study noted
that the results were the first to convincingly demonstrate that cannabis-based
treatments may successfully combat cancer.
Today, Guzman believes that enough favorable clinical evidence exists
supporting pot’s anti-cancer properties to warrant clinical trials in humans. "The
scientific community has gained substantial knowledge of the palliative and antitumor
actions of cannabinoids during the past few years," Guzman wrote in the
October 2003 issue of Nature Reviews Cancer. "Anti-tumor compounds should
selectively affect tumor cells [and] it seems that cannabinoids can do this, as
they kill [malignant] tumor cells but do not affect their non-transformed
counterparts and might even protect them from cell death. ... As cannabinoids
are relatively safe compounds, it would be desirable that clinical trials using
cannabinoids ... could accompany [ongoing] laboratory studies to allow us to use
these compounds in the treatment of cancer." Guzman concludes the article by
noting that the Spanish Ministry of Health recently approved a human clinical
trial – the first ever – aimed at investigating the effects of intracranially
administered THC on the life expectancy of volunteers suffering from malignant
brain tumors.
"Cannabinoid research continues to show tremendous potential in the treatment
of cancer," summarizes University of Southern California professor Mitch
Earleywine, author of the book Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the
Scientific Evidence. However, he laments that the "vast majority of this work
originates outside the United States, often in countries that lack our economic
and scientific advantages. Let’s hope that our drug policy won’t stymie the
battle against the second leading cause of death in America."
Indeed. Let’s not add a potential treatment for cancer to the ever-growing list
of victims of pot prohibition.
Paul Armentano [send him mail] is the senior policy analyst for the NORML
Foundation in Washington, DC.
SEARCH
Search
Web www.soop.ca
|| Copyright 2006 soop.ca ||
Complete Cancer Clinic
IRB Reviewed Cancer Treatments.
Oncology & Elite Natural Medicine.
www.Envita.com
11 Ways to Fight Cancer
Learn about the weaknesses
cancer has & how to effectively
reverse it
www.CancerFightingStrategies.com
Liver Cancer Treatment
Did you know that Chinese herbs
can easily treat Liver Cancer?
www.HNMRC.net
Smokers Life Insurance
Healthy Smokers, Pay Less for Life
Insurance in Canada. Learn more!
www.assure-all.com
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