Cannabis Can Help Treat Cancer, But Can It Prevent It? New urology study with 150,000 participants astounds the medical world
Urological cancers are cancers that affect the structures and organs of the female and male urinary tract and male reproductive structures. Urologic cancer is the general term for cancers of the kidney, testicles, bladder, penis and prostate.
The Cancer Society of America estimates that urologic cancers account for approximately 23 percent of all commonly diagnosed cancers. The treatment and diagnosis of urological tumors has greatly improved due to better detection, sophisticated imaging and the discovery of disease-specific molecular markers.
Urological cancers (or urinary system malignancies) are suspected to have links to genetic, lifestyle, environmental, and other factors. The methods of treating and detecting urologic malignancies have improved over time, and patients now have a variety of alternatives available depending on their needs and goals.
CANNABIS AS A MEDICAL TREATMENT
The Cannabis Sativa L. plant is the most important source of phytocannabinoids and has been used as an herbal treatment for generations. The endocannabinoid system (ECS) consists of endogenous ligands (endocannabinoids), receptors and metabolizing enzymes. It is crucial for many pathological and physiological processes. To influence the onset or spread of disease, including cancer, synthetic cannabinoids and phytocannabinoids can interact with elements of the endocannabinoid system or other cellular signaling pathways. Cannabinoids have been used primarily in palliative care for cancer patients to treat pain, nausea and increase appetite.
Cannabinoids have also shown anticancer benefits in a variety of cancers in multiple cell culture and animal studies.
A STUDY ON CANNABIS AND UROLOGICAL CANCER
A recent study published by Cancer Medicine examined the association between the occurrence of urological malignancies and cannabis use. The researchers examined the cannabis use of 151,945 people who had information on cannabis use in the UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010.
“In the total cohort and the subgroups, raw and maturity-incidence ratios of various urological malignancies were examined,” according to the study’s methodology. “Cox regression was used for survival analysis,” says the study, which was conducted by scientists from France, the United Kingdom and China.
For the result of the study, according to the researchers, the frequent previous use of marijuana turned out to be a strong defense factor for prostate cancer and renal cell carcinoma in multivariable analyses. Another association has been seen between previous cannabis use and bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma in women but not in men. The study also found no link between testicular cancer and cannabis use.
In conclusion, it was found that there is an association between existing cannabis use and a reduced risk of prostate cancer, bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma. The inverse relationship between marijuana and both bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma is found only in women and not in men.
MEDICAL CANNABIS IN ADVANCED CANCER TREATMENT
According to information published in Cureus magazine, patients with advanced cancer respond positively to medical marijuana.
Researchers at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, New York, studied the palliative use of marijuana by people with cancer. All trial participants were registered with the state medical marijuana registry.
Consistent with previous research, 85% of people (the majority) reported an improvement in their symptoms after using cannabis, with almost half reporting a decrease in symptoms. Consistent with previous studies, a significant proportion (45%) of participants reported reducing their use of opioid pain relievers. Less than 4% of subjects reported adverse effects from using medicinal marijuana products.
The scientists concluded that “medicinal cannabis appears to have an essential function in alleviating symptoms in advanced malignancies with few side effects”. Prioritize prospective research addressing this therapeutic approach.
EFFECTS OF MEDICAL CANNABIS ON CANCER-RELATED PAIN
Historically, opioid analgesics have been the main treatment for cancer-related pain. Ninety-five percent of patients reported treatment success in a recent Cochrane collaborative review of opioids for the treatment of cancer pain, in which 152 publications involving 13,524 patients were thoroughly reviewed. However, most patients did not adequately assess the pain reduction. The studies used as a basis for treatment choice were outdated, had small sample sizes, and negative response rates ranging from 11% to 77%, leading one researcher to conclude that the quality of results supporting opioid medications is low. This is probably one of the factors contributing to the majority of oncologists perceiving opioid treatment as risky and in need of alternative medications.
Medical cannabis is a promising alternative to opioid-based drugs. Research on cannabis, particularly on the treatment of cancer-related pain, is incomprehensible and the results controversial. The effects of cannabis on cancer-related pain and, sporadically, on other cancer symptoms have been the subject of relatively fewer randomized clinical trials and even fewer cohorts. As a result, there is only a minimum recommendation for using marijuana to relieve cancer pain. Although this research was randomized clinical experiments, most of them had tiny sample sizes, necessitating further research. A more recent meta-analysis found that nabiximols had no beneficial effect on cancer pain. However, a recent study found that the majority of cancer patients asked their oncologist for medicinal cannabis treatment.
Patients typically tolerate the negative effects of these cannabinoids, which are classified as mild to moderate. The most common side effects are drowsiness, xerostomia (dry mouth), vomiting and nausea. The use of cannabinoids to treat cancer-related pain is generally considered safe. However, drug interactions must be considered. Recent prospective and retrospective research found that administration of immunotherapy along with medicinal cannabis treatment resulted in lower response rates.
FINAL EFFECT
Due to the fact that this is a relatively new phenomenon, more knowledge or research needs to be done on the full effects or usefulness of cannabis for the treatment of cancer. However, studies are already showing some positive results. A recent study on cannabis and urological cancers showed that medicinal cannabis rye consumption helped patients relieve pain caused by cancer.
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