Last month, Dr. Sean McAllister traveled from California to talk in Philadelphia on a potential new breast cancer treatment. Dr. McAllister has been studying the anti-cancer effects of cannabinoids for years and he has discovered that the cannabinoid, CBD (Cannabidiol) is a very potent inhibitor of breast cancer. Usually, his research draws a lot of media interest and then some. His research sparks an interest in the general public, as CBD is also the second most abundant compound on the Cannabis plant.
Dr.McAllister shared his results of his recently published a study on CBD and breast cancer. This is not the first paper on the anti-cancer activity of CBD, the McAllister lab also published other articles on cannabinoids and cancer: CBD and Breast Cancer and THC&CBD kill brain cancer cells. The current study is an in depth look at how CBD kills breast cancer cells in an animal model. Specifically, CBD affects a protein called ID-1. ID-1 appears to be a major conductor of cancer cells and thus is an excellent target for a cancer treatment.
There are a variety of ways for a scientist to measure how effective an anticancer drug is. For instance in the image from Dr.McAllister is an experiment testing how CBD can stop the invasion of cancer cells. When cancer spreads it can eat through tissue, and CBD appears to be able to inhibit this aspect of breast cancer cells. The cancer cells are placed on a gel which contain small holes. The cells are dosed with a drug and after a few days you can count the number of cells that have made it through. This simulates what a tumor does as it eats its way through human tissues. The little black triangles are the cells, you can see that only a half-dozen or so made it through the gel when dosed with CBD (on the right). Without CBD, the control on the left, the cancer cells easily move through the gel.
Dr.McAllister has previously demonstrated that cannabinoids may have the unique ability to selectively kill cancer cells. The lab has also posted a youtube video showing this effect; cannabinoids kill cancer cells while leaving the healthy cell alive. The therapeutic potential of CBD or a synthetic version thereof, is of interest to pharmaceutical companies. During his presentation, Dr. McAllister mentioned that work may soon start on a CBD and breast cancer clinical trial with STI pharmaceuticals.
However CBD is a scheduled drug in this country, but it doesn’t get you high and has virtually no toxicity! Furthermore, CBD also inhibits the negative effects of THC! Why is this safe and useful compound a scheduled drug of abuse!? Luckily, the government’s view on CBD hasn’t deterred researchers from developing this into a medicine.
Disclaimer: The picture was provided courtesy of Dr. Sean McAllister. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author and not those of any University, Institution, Business or affiliates thereof.
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