Cannabis for cancer – illusion or the tip of an iceberg: a review of the      evidence for the use of Cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids in oncology

Turgeman, Ilit; Bar-Sela, Gil

doi:10.1080/13543784.2019.1561859

Cited by 59 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Interestingly, although not a qualifying condition, hope for anti-tumor effect was noted in the brain tumor population, ranking second behind nausea as the most common indications for the use of medical cannabis. Recent reviews of preclinical research suggest the possibility of an effect by tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) against various CNS tumors, however, the authors caution that more research is needed [6,13]. We have also seen that young children with brain tumors experience a decrease in irritability while on medical cannabis, which may also account for its use in younger patients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Medical Cannabis Certification in a Large Pediatric Oncology Center

2019

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In Minnesota, medical cannabis was approved for use in 2014. From July 2015 to February 2019, our center certified 103 pediatric and young adult patients for the use of medical cannabis under the qualifying conditions of cancer and treatment-related symptoms. Here, we provide a review of the literature on medical cannabis use in pediatric and young adult cancer patients. We also provide demographic data on our patients certified for medical cannabis. The most common diagnoses were leukemia/lymphoma (36%), brain tumors (37%), and malignant solid tumors (26%). The most common indications were chemotherapy-related nausea, pain, and cancer cachexia. The age range at certification was 1.4–28.7 years (median 15.3 years). The time from cancer diagnosis to certification ranged from 0.5–197 months (median 8.9 months). The majority (94%) were certified during their first line of treatment. In the 32 patients who died from recurrent or progressive cancer, the time from certification to death was 1.3–30.3 months (median 4.4 years). Despite requesting certification, a subset (24%) never had medical cannabis dispensed. In our experience, pediatric and young adult oncology patients are interested in medical cannabis to help manage treatment-related symptoms. Ongoing analysis of this data will identify the therapeutic efficacy of medical cannabis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A very early publication from 1994 using recreational marijuana in patients with chemotherapy-induced nausea found benefit in 50% of patients [4]. More recent publications in adults with cancer have shown significant benefits of medical cannabis and recreational marijuana, with few and manageable side effects [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical Cannabis Certification in a Large Pediatric Oncology Center

2019

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“…A number of these compounds were investigated in cell culture and animal tumor models to determine their antineoplastic effects. For relevant reviews, see references [37,38,39,40,41]. Their chemical structures are depicted in Figure 1 and their effects are discussed in the following chapters.…”

Section: Cannabinoids From Cannabis Sativamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While ACEA decreased the invasive potential, AM251 increased the invasive power of breast cancer stem cells, indicating that CB1-R contributes to the stem cell properties in breast cancer [73]. Furthermore, a number of other synthetic CBD analogues, such as O-1663 and HU-331, showed antiproliferative activity on breast cancer cells; these analogues were previously reviewed [38].…”

Section: Cannabinoids In Breast Cancermentioning

confidence: 99%

Future Aspects for Cannabinoids in Breast Cancer Therapy

Kisková

Mungenast

Suváková

et al. 2019

IJMS

104

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Cannabinoids (CBs) from Cannabis sativa provide relief for tumor-associated symptoms (including nausea, anorexia, and neuropathic pain) in the palliative treatment of cancer patients. Additionally, they may decelerate tumor progression in breast cancer patients. Indeed, the psychoactive delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD) and other CBs inhibited disease progression in breast cancer models. The effects of CBs on signaling pathways in cancer cells are conferred via G-protein coupled CB-receptors (CB-Rs), CB1-R and CB2-R, but also via other receptors, and in a receptor-independent way. THC is a partial agonist for CB1-R and CB2-R; CBD is an inverse agonist for both. In breast cancer, CB1-R expression is moderate, but CB2-R expression is high, which is related to tumor aggressiveness. CBs block cell cycle progression and cell growth and induce cancer cell apoptosis by inhibiting constitutive active pro-oncogenic signaling pathways, such as the extracellular-signal-regulated kinase pathway. They reduce angiogenesis and tumor metastasis in animal breast cancer models. CBs are not only active against estrogen receptor-positive, but also against estrogen-resistant breast cancer cells. In human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive and triple-negative breast cancer cells, blocking protein kinase B- and cyclooxygenase-2 signaling via CB2-R prevents tumor progression and metastasis. Furthermore, selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), including tamoxifen, bind to CB-Rs; this process may contribute to the growth inhibitory effect of SERMs in cancer cells lacking the estrogen receptor. In summary, CBs are already administered to breast cancer patients at advanced stages of the disease, but they might also be effective at earlier stages to decelerate tumor progression.

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“…Some other studies also reveal association of NSAIDs with certain cancer types [58,59]. Several studies support use of cannabis/marijuana in cancer pain management [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70]. Its social acceptability is gradually increasing around the world [71], but many studies oppose it's use or at least demand further investigation of benefit risk ratio [72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80].…”

Section: Reasons Behind Choosing Alternative Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Alternative Treatments for Cancer Prevention and Cure [Part 1]

Mohiuddin¹

2019

APCT

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Many lay people along with some so called "key opinion leaders" have a common slogan "There's no answer for cancer". Again, mistake delays proper treatment and make situation worse, more often. Compliance is crucial to obtain optimal health outcomes, such as cure or improvement in QoL. Patients may delay treatment or fail to seek care because of high out-of-pocket expenditures. Despite phenomenal development, conventional therapy falls short in cancer management. There are two major hurdles in anticancer drug development: dose-limiting toxic side effects that reduce either drug effectiveness or the QoL of patients and complicated drug development processes that are costly and time consuming. Cancer patients are increasingly seeking out alternative medicine and might be reluctant to disclose its use to their oncology treatment physicians. But there is limited available information on patterns of utilization and efficacy of alternative medicine for patients with cancer. As adjuvant therapy, many traditional medicines shown efficacy against brain, head and neck, skin, breast, liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder, prostate, colon and blood cancers. The literature reviews non-pharmacological interventions used against cancer, published trials, systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

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Cannabis for cancer – illusion or the tip of an iceberg: a review of the evidence for the use of Cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids in oncology

Cited by 59 publications

References 76 publications

Medical Cannabis Certification in a Large Pediatric Oncology Center

Medical Cannabis Certification in a Large Pediatric Oncology Center

Future Aspects for Cannabinoids in Breast Cancer Therapy

Alternative Treatments for Cancer Prevention and Cure [Part 1]

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