Pubdate: Mon, 01 Oct 2012
Source: Manitoban, The (CN MB, Edu)
Copyright: 2012 The Manitoban Newspaper Publications Corporation
Contact:  http://www.themanitoban.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2665
Author: Elizabeth Drewnik

MARIJUANA AS CANCER THERAPY?

Make way for the next generation of chemotherapeutics

Marijuana as a cancer therapeutic? This has got to be a scam, right?
Well, before we make any hasty decisions and throw the marijuana out
with the bath salts, let us consider what is really going on here - at
the molecular level.

We all know that cancer-"the big C"-is the disease that everybody
wants to avoid. We all know that many who are unfortunate enough to be
diagnosed with aggressive cancers don't survive. But what exactly is
cancer?

The simplest way to define cancer would be to say that it is
uncontrolled cell division; that cells which are differentiated to
perform a specific task in the body have de-differentiated to become
non-specific. What's so bad about that, you may ask? Imagine your
kidney: there are myriad different cell types specified to perform
unique and individual tasks, all working together in a synchronized
unit to help filter your blood, excrete impurities along with your
urine, and even help maintain your blood pressure. Now imagine that
one of those cells lost their specificity. Do you think your kidney
would still be able to commit to those functions?

What if a car's tires were replaced with windows? Well, the car
wouldn't be able to function the way it should, despite the fact that
every other part of the car has still maintained its differentiated
purpose. In the same way, cancer cells that are de-differentiated
cause monumental problems to your body, simply because the function of
a particular organ, the synchronicity of the cells to control that
particular function, are lost.

But the horror does not end there.

Cancer is able to metastasize, which means that those nasty cancer
cells are able to move to other parts of the body, invade and continue
the spread of the disease. This metastasis to other tissues of the
body is the final and fatal step of the disease, and is the least
understood genetically. There are many things that can make a cell
become cancerous, and more so metastatic; most commonly, mutagens from
the environment can have certain effects on cells to prompt them in
the direction of the cancer pathway.

There are also specific genes involved in the expression of cancer
properties. It was discovered recently by scientists Pierre-Yves
Desprez and Sean D. McAllister that an increase in Id-1 gene
expression was shown to be associated with these metastatic
properties. This simply means that cancer cells were found to have a
higher amount of gene products as compared to non-cancer cells.

Now, how does marijuana fit into all of this?

It has been discovered, by the same scientists, that there is a
chemical compound called Cannabidiol (CBD) isolated from the Cannabis
plant that provides a non-toxic and non-psychoactive role in the
reduction of metastasis in breast cancer. As the drug is non-toxic, it
is not harmful to the body, and makes an ideal therapeutic; the
non-psychoactive property of CBD dictates that the drug does not
result in the "high" one would experience from smoking the marijuana
plant.

In a more recent publication by the same scientists, discoveries have
been made that this treatment is also quite effective against other
aggressive cancers, such as brain and prostate cancer. CBD
down-regulates the Id-1 gene - it turns the gene off, resulting in a
decreased amount of gene product, and thus a decrease in the
metastatic phenotype associated with the gene.

This does not mean that you should start smoking marijuana as
treatment or as a preventative measure against aggressive metastatic
cancers. The natural concentration of CBD within the Cannabis plant is
so low, it would have no effect as a treatment whatsoever.

Up till now, the scientists have had to grow the plants in order to
isolate and concentrate the CBD compound to use if for their
experiments. Now, researchers are looking into methods of synthesizing
CBD in the lab in order to begin human clinical trials, and
potentially encapsulate the compound to release it into the
pharmaceutical market.
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MAP posted-by: Matt