Cannabis Against Cancer – What Do The World’s Latest Medical Studies Say?
Cannabis against cancer: What the latest studies say
Marijuana has been used to treat dozens of medical conditions for thousands of years.
This plant contains hundreds of therapeutic compounds that have proven beneficial in treating diseases that have plagued modern mankind for decades; We have tried to find a cure for many of these diseases. One of them is cancer.
Say what you will about marijuana, but the studies aim to prove that it can help save lives, improve prognosis, and make a huge difference in the quality of life for people with cancer.
Here’s what the latest studies say about cannabis and cancer.
Large-scale study with 150,000 urological cancer patients shows that cannabis has a protective effect
A recent study involving 151,945 individuals from the United Kingdom Biobank was conducted by a team of researchers in the UK along with others in France and China. They analyzed patient data from 2006 to 2010 to determine if there was an association between cannabis use and urological cancers.
Researchers discovered that patients with previous cannabis use appeared to have protected them from the risk of developing renal cell carcinoma, which is responsible for about 90% of kidney cancers in the United States, and from prostate cancer. The author used Mendelian randomization and discovered a possible causal effect and lower incidence of renal cell carcinoma.
Furthermore, they found no correlation between cannabis use and testicular cancer.
“Previous use of cannabis was associated with a lower risk of bladder cancer, renal cell carcinoma and prostate cancer,” the authors concluded. “The inverse association between cannabis and both renal cell carcinoma and bladder cancer was found only in women but not in men,” they wrote.
Cannabis users are less likely to develop liver cancer
A June study published in Cureus showed that adults who use cannabis have a reduced risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of liver cancer, compared to adults with no history of marijuana use.
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide each year. It is primarily associated with hepatitis virus infections, which can occur due to hepatitis B or C. However, it can also be caused by chronic alcohol consumption.
Researchers from a group of clinics and hospitals, namely the Cleveland Clinic, Georgetown University Hospital, Arizona Liver Health and Southern Illinois University, analyzed a sample of 101,231,036 patients. Their data from 2002 to 2014 were obtained from the US National Inpatient Sample Database. About 1% of the total of 996,290 cases were isolated due to a diagnosis of marijuana abuse.
The researchers then compared this data to a control group and found that the group that used cannabis had a higher risk of alcohol abuse, smoking, and hepatitis B and C infections. All of these are known to dramatically increase the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. Surprisingly, the group that used cannabis had a lower risk of hepatocellular carcinoma!
They also had a lower incidence of diabetes, obesity and gallstones.
“Together, these studies demonstrate that CB1 and CB2 have the potential to serve as therapeutic targets,” the authors said. “In short, the CB-2 agonist activity of cannabis, specifically CBD, offers an explanation for our observations by providing protection against HCC [hepatocellular carcinoma] or at least slow down the progression of the disease. Furthermore, the pharmaceutical development of compounds that exert the dual action of CB1 antagonism and CB2 agonism may play an important role in the treatment of liver diseases,” the authors concluded.
Topical CBD beneficial for skin cancer
Researchers from the University of California at Riverside, along with researchers from UC Davis, published a case report in the medical journal Cureus of a 64-year-old woman diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
Squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most common types of skin cancer, affecting the outer and middle layers of the skin. Just like other forms of skin cancer, it is caused by prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays or radiation, which can trigger abnormal growth in the squamous cells.
The woman was treated with an ointment containing 20% CBD, which proved effective in clearing a skin cancer lesion. “A woman with multiple biopsy-confirmed cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas presented with a new red plaque on her dorsal left hand,” they wrote in the report.
“The biopsy revealed lichen simplex chronicus; However, she initiated treatment with topical cannabinoid oil herself, twice a day, and the lesion completely disappeared within four weeks. Several previously biopsy-confirmed squamous cell carcinomas on the backs of their hands also regressed completely after similar treatment with topical cannabinoid oil,” they continued.
“Both malignant cancer and chronic dermatitis completely disappeared within four weeks of twice-daily treatment. We credit the elimination of her skin tumor to cannabidiol…. Therefore, the possibility of treating non-melanoma skin cancers, such as squamous cell carcinoma, with topical cannabinoids may warrant further investigation,” the authors wrote.
Cannabinoids can inhibit the growth of colon cancer cells
New research suggests that cannabinoids can inhibit the growth of colon cancer cells. Two new studies discussed in Forbes provide promising results, although limited to cell models.
“Colon cancer is one of the most common tumors today, with a significant proportion of patients currently being treated with integrative therapies combined with traditional methods, including medicinal cannabis administration,” says Professor Tami Peretz, Senior Oncologist and part of the research team. “Based on these experiments, there is room for animal testing and for the future to explore the possibility of using these products in colorectal cancer patients,” the professor said.
CANNABIS CANCER RESEARCH, READ MORE…
THE SHOCKING CANNABIS UROLOGY STUDY, READ THIS!
Post a comment: