THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis,
has been shown to be a neuroprotective antioxidant:
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/95/14/8268
Now a study suggests it may also kill brain tumors:
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http://www.msnbc.com/news/375716.asp
MSNBC NEWS SERVICES
Marijuana ingredient kills rat brain tumors
Not known whether approach would work in people
Feb. 28 -- Marijuana-like drugs
eradicated some brain cancers in rats
and helped other animals live longer,
possibly hinting at a new approach for
treating the disease, researchers say.
But brain cancer experts said they
aren’t impressed.
THE STUDY dealt with gliomas, the
most common category of cancer arising in
the brain. Gliomas are highly lethal in people
despite treatment with drugs, surgery and
radiation.
The rat study was published in the March
issue of the journal Nature Medicine. It was
conducted by scientists at the Complutense
and Autonoma universities in Madrid, Spain.
Marijuana, or cannabis, is best known
for its ability to give people a "high," but the
plant also has medicinal properties, such as
relieving pain and nausea.
STUDY DETAILS
The researchers injected glioma cells
into the brains of rats to produce tumors.
Untreated rats died within 18 days.
Other rats were treated with drug
infusions for seven days through a tube
leading to the tumor. Fifteen rats got infusions
of THC, the main active component in
marijuana. Tumors disappeared in three
animals, and nine other rats outlived the
untreated ones, surviving up to 35 days.
When researchers used a different but
similar drug, five of 15 rats became
tumor-free and four others outlived untreated
animals, the researchers said.
The scientists said they did not know if
the cancer treatment was appropriate for
humans, but they planned further studies.
Cancer treatments that work in animals may
be too toxic or not effective in humans.
The chemicals activated two receptors,
or chemical doorways to cells, which
prompted an increase in a lipid known as
ceramide. The researchers theorized that
ceramide in turn activated a chain of protein
reactions that killed the cancerous cells.
One of the researchers, Dr. Manuel
Guzman, said in an interview he hoped to
start human tests in about a year. "We are
quite happy with (the findings), and we
believe we can at least try and see what
happens in humans," Guzman said.
Dr. Daniele Piomelli of the University of
California at Irvine wrote in separate article
the rat findings were encouraging, given the
bleak scenario for treating malignant gliomas.
Patients usually receive surgery,
radiation and chemotherapy, but median
survival is 40 to 50 weeks.
"Although incomplete, these findings
must be seriously considered," Piomelli
wrote.
MUCH MORE RESEARCH NEEDED
But Dr. Philip Gutin, chief of
neurosurgery at the Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York,
said other experimental therapies work better
in rats. And the paper doesn’t demonstrate
that the effect came from the drugs rather than
simply the infusion of liquid into the brain, he
said.
Dr. Rolf Barth, who studies brain tumors
at Ohio State University, called the work
interesting. But he said the type of glioma
cells used to create the tumors does not
provide a very good mimic of the human
disease.
The Associated Press and Reuters
contributed to this report.
==============================================
http://www.msnbc.com/news/375716.asp
==============================================
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WACO PROTEST: http://users.erols.com/igoddard/waco-1.htm
========================================================
"There are times when you cannot keep your job and
put alternative explanations for data on the table."
Former FBI Special Agent Dr. Frederic Whitehurst
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