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Cannabinoid improves survival rates of mice with pancreatic cancer

July 30, 2018

Science Daily/Queen Mary University of London

Mice with pancreatic cancer that were treated with a naturally occurring constituent of medicinal cannabis alongside chemotherapy, survived almost three times longer than those treated with chemotherapy alone, a new study reports.

 

The study is published in the journal Oncogene and was led by Queen Mary University of London and Curtin University, Australia. It tested the impact of the cannabinoid Cannabidiol (CBD) on the use of the commonly used chemotherapy medication Gemcitabine as a treatment for pancreatic cancer in mice.

 

Each year around 9,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The disease is particularly aggressive and has one of the lowest survival rate of all cancers.

 

Lead researcher Professor Marco Falasca from Queen Mary University of London said: "This is a remarkable result. We found that mice with pancreatic cancer survived nearly three times longer if a constituent of medicinal cannabis was added to their chemotherapy treatment.

 

"Cannabidiol is already approved for use in clinics, which means we can quickly go on to test this in human clinical trials. If we can reproduce these effects in humans, cannabidiol could be in use in cancer clinics almost immediately, compared to having to wait for authorities to approve a new drug.

 

"The life expectancy for pancreatic cancer patients has barely changed in the last 40 years because there are very few, and mostly only palliative care, treatments available. Given the five-year survival rate for people with pancreatic cancer is less than seven per cent, the discovery of new treatments and therapeutic strategies is urgently needed."

 

The cannabinoid CBD does not cause psychoactive effects, as opposed to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the cannabinoid known to cause the psychoactive effects in cannabis. As such, CBD is already cleared for use in the clinic, and does not face the same challenges as products including cannabis oil, which contain controlled substances such as THC.

 

The researchers add that CBD is also known to improve the side effects of chemotherapy, including nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, meaning it could also improve the quality of life of patients undergoing chemotherapy.

 

The research was supported by the UK charity Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund and the Avner Pancreatic Cancer Foundation and also involved researchers from The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Scotland.

 

The study only looked at the effect of this treatment in mice, and clinical trials in humans are needed to confirm whether or not CBD improves survival rates of pancreatic cancer patients.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180730160618.htm

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Cannabis pain relief without the 'high'

Mechanism of cannabidiol for safe pain relief without side effects

October 24, 2018

Science Daily/McGill University Health Centre

In the wake of cannabis legalization, a team of scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and McGill University have delivered encouraging news for chronic pain sufferers by pinpointing the effective dose of marijuana plant extract cannabidiol (CBD) for safe pain relief without the typical "high" or euphoria produced by the THC. The findings of their study have been published in the journal PAIN (The Journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain).

 

Cannabis indica and sativa are the two main cannabis strains that produce the pharmacological principles known as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Dr. Gabriella Gobbi's team demonstrated that CBD does not act on the CB1 cannabinoid receptors like THC but through the mechanism that binds specific receptors involved in anxiety (serotonin 5-HT1A) and pain (vanilloid TRPV1). Researchers were able to extrapolate the exact dosage of CBD displaying analgesic and antianxiety properties without the risk of addiction and euphoria classically produced by the THC.

 

"We found in animal models of chronic pain that low doses of CBD administered for seven days alleviate both pain and anxiety, two symptoms often associated in neuropathic or chronic pain," says first author of the study Danilo De Gregorio, a post-doctoral fellow at McGill University in Dr. Gobbi's laboratory.

 

Lead author Dr. Gobbi, a researcher in the Brain Repair and Integrative Neuroscience (BRaIN) Program of the RI-MUHC, sees this as advancement for the evidence-based application of cannabis in medicine with CBD offering a safe alternative to THC and opioids for chronic pain, such as back pain, sciatica, diabetic, cancer and post-trauma pain.

 

"Our findings elucidate the mechanism of action of CBD and show that it can be used as medicine without the dangerous side effects of the THC," says Dr. Gobbi, who is also Professor of Psychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University and staff psychiatrist at the MUHC. "This research is a new advancement for an evidence-based application of cannabis in medicine."

 

Despite widespread public usage, little clinical studies exist on CBD, which became legal in Canada on October 17, 2018, following the passage of Canada's Cannabis Act.

 

"There is some data showing that CBD provides pain relief for humans but more robust clinical trials are needed ," says Dr. Gobbi, a recent grant recipient for her study of the pharmalogical effects of CBD.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181024163625.htm

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