Biochem? piece on cannabis for cancer

[yamobedeh]

I have no chops in biochem etc. so I'd be interested in remark or opinions by members who have expertise in this area. This is from a person with another form of metastatic cancer.

[FCoffey]

Supply the reference, please. Where did you find this?

I’m not a biochemist either, but I have interesting conversations with them, and none of them talk like this.

[yamobedeh]

That's the problem, as with so many posts like this. No reference is given.

[2dee]

I have found that THC is helpful for some of my pain. Severe headache is minimized. I read of some miraculous "cures" from high dose of THC. I'm not a recreational drug user so doubtful I could ramp up to a high enough dosage. Would be interested in finding substantiated sources that accurately describe dose and schedule for THC as a PCa "cure" or at least maybe slow things down.

2Dee

[yamobedeh in reply to 2dee]

That's the ongoing problem. There seems to be few if any reliable research articles.

[TommyTV]

There is no research on its interaction with existing medication. For example, grapefruit can cause serious problems if taken with certain drugs, as can decongestants if taken with blood pressure reducing medication. All drugs without exception have side effects too.

Generally this ‘research’ is either in vitro or on mice. We are neither Petri dishes or simple rodents. Our immune system is far more advanced than a mouse, and there are many other huge genetic differences.

As we all know from this site, every PCa seems to have differences. I’m on a drug trial which has kept me alive and kicking for nearly 8 years, others barely managed 6 months. Same drug, same cancer, different outcomes.

The chances of any one drug working on all cancers is virtually impossible.

[GranPaSmurf]

Cannabinoids as therapeutic agents in cancer: current status and future implications

~~This article seems to be a pretty thorough and interesting survey. Here is a pull quote from the CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS section:~~

"Thus, combination of cannabinoids with other chemotherapeutic drugs might provide a potent clinical outcome, reduce toxicity, increase specificity and overcome drug resistance complications."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[rscic in reply to GranPaSmurf]

The study you cite was published in 2014. This 2018 publication might interest you: ncbi.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P...

[yamobedeh in reply to rscic]

The seems broken.

[rscic in reply to yamobedeh]

The current state and future perspectives of cannabinoids in cancer biology

published in Cancer Med Mar. 2018 765-775

[rscic]

The reactions to the generation of cell death by THC are more numerous than those of CBD .... please see figure 1 at: ncbi.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P... If THC or CBD or both work to suppress or kill malignant cells I suspect these would have a synergistic effect with other forms of treatment e.g. CBD production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in combination with Radiation Therapy which will also product ROS along with DNA damage. CBD might be better with some treatments than THC or might not. Because of governmental extreme prejudice against all forms of cannabinoids I suspect these (THC & CBD) are WAY behind in terms of research as to their potential medical uses.

[j-o-h-n]

There have been mobs of sellers that actually ended up in cells....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 07/21/2019 3:59 PM DST

[sandbergc9 in reply to j-o-h-n]

J-o-h-n made a joke laughs kill PC

[j-o-h-n in reply to sandbergc9]

I did?

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Sunday 07/21/2019 5:59 PM DST

[tom67inMA]

From what I've read on THC/CBD and cancer, things are really complicated. As noted in another reply, most studies are in petri dishes or mice. Like most marijuana effects, there tends to be a biphasic response. For example, a little pot makes you relax, a lot makes you anxious and paranoid. The same seems to apply to cancer effects: a little feeds the cancer, a lot kills it. From what I've read, "a little" is what you get from smoking it, "a lot" is what happens when you inject concentrated THC directly into a tumor.

Things get even more complicated in a human body. For example (and I'm making this up for the sake of explanation), suppose a 10 mg dose of THC does stimulate the cancer, but also causes an overall relaxation response that revs up the immune system which attacks the cancer. Which effect is stronger? What if the THC stimulates appetite and allows enough quality food to be eat to keep that immune system going strong? Point is, there are many, many effects across the entire body and it's the total sum of those effects that matter, not just what happens in a petri dish.

Suffice to say a lot of cancer patients are using THC and yet oncologists aren't reporting large number of spontaneous remissions or unexplained deaths, so probably not a huge effect either way. If it helps with a tangible problem such as anxiety, use it! I do.

[FCoffey]

It's well established that the body, and not just cancer cells, have receptors for cannabinoids. There is some evidence that some cancers over-express those receptors. This gives some hope that THC/CBD might help treat certain cancers.

Evidence is severely lacking. The US federal government puts enormous obstacles to any funding of medical cannabis research. What little we know comes mainly from European sources.

I frankly don't believe the above quote. At best it might describe a reaction observed in a culture, but it certainly does not have any evidence from trials in humans with cancer.

Cannabis definitely helps with pain, sleeping, anxiety, appetite. These are all important and beneficial to cancer patients.

Curing or treating cancer with cannabis is at best speculative. Simplistic explanations, even ones with lots of technical gobblygook, are not at all helpful.