Pubdate: Thu, 01 Jan 2015
Source: Tucson Weekly (AZ)
Copyright: 2015 Tucson Weekly
Contact:  http://www.tucsonweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/462
Author: Dr. MJ

CANNABIS AND CANCER

Dr. MMJ offers an opinion on treatment claims and government research

Therapeutic treatments are emerging and gaining acceptance across the 
globe, but with no FDA approval or large scale double blind studies done 
in the USA to fall back on where does one go for reliable information 
about these treatments? There is respected science about these issues 
coming from Israel, England and other parts of the world but very little 
from here at home.

This is because the United States government contends that cannabis is
a substance with no accepted medical use. This assertion is made even
though since 1974 the government has been in possession of scientific
evidence that Cannabis can shrink cancerous tumors.

Below is an excerpt from a patent issued by the same U.S. Government
to GW Pharma, an England-based pharmaceutical giant, for
phytocannabinoids in the treatment of cancer. Phytocannabinoids are
plant based cannabinoids as opposed to synthetic cannabinoids like
marinol or the endogenous cannabinoids found naturally in all mammals.

Phytocannabinoids in the treatment of cancer

US 20130059018 A1

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to the use of phytocannabinoids, either in an
isolated form or in the form of a botanical drug substance (BDS) in
the treatment of cancer. Preferably the cancer to be treated is cancer
of the prostate, cancer of the breast or cancer of the colon.

BACKGROUND

Cancer is a class of diseases which occurs because cells become
immortalized; they fail to heed customary signals to turn off growth
which is a normal function of remodelling in the body that requires
cells to die on cue. Programmed cell death can become defective and
when this happens malignant transformation can take place. The
immortalized cells grow beyond their normal limits and invade adjacent
tissues. The malignant cells may also metastasize and spread to other
locations in the body via the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Cancer
cells often form a mass known as a tumor.

Cannabinoids have been shown to play a fundamental role in the control
of cell survival/cell death. It has been reported that cannabinoids
may induce proliferation, growth arrest, or apoptosis in a number of
cells, including neurons, lymphocytes, and various transformed neural
and non-neural cells, and that cannabinoids induce apoptosis of glioma
cells in culture and regression of malignant gliomas in vivo.

There is a long history of anecdotal evidence that points to cannabis
having efficacy treating cancer. Programmed cell death this is the
key, the author of this patent mentions it three times in less than a
page and the application continues for hundreds of pages more and it
is mentioned hundreds of times. So this pre-programmed cell death that
cancer cells lack, can Phytocannabinoids fix it? How does it shrink
tumors and cure cancer?

Cannabis Oil, often referred to as Rick Simpsons oil, is a highly
potent concentration of the active parts of the cannabis plant, it is
extremely intoxicating and taken at very high doses, like a gram of
oil a day. Cannabis oil has been reported to reprogram cancer cells to
die as described above. Those that have had success treating their
cancer in this manner report shrinking tumors, and clear scans and
sometimes continue on cannabis at much lower doses for
maintenance.

The difficult parts about this process are developing a high enough
tolerance to THC in the patient for them to reach and maintain a high
enough dose to attain a therapeutic benefit and early detection.

Another challenge in using cannabis to treat cancer is the widespread
use of chemotherapy and radiation in cancer patients. These treatments
are extremely toxic and have had limited success in curing cancer.
They shrink tumors but also kill undamaged cells causing nausea and
loss of appetite. Cannabis focuses its energy on only the damaged
cells and leaves the healthy ones alone.

Cannabis can be useful to a patient undergoing chemo or radiation
treatment but the benefits are mostly supportive. Cannabis stimulates
appetite and therefore can minimize loss of appetite and the resulting
weight loss many cancer patients endure. Cannabis is a great pain
reliever and can also relieve the discomfort caused by these treatments.

This leaves a cancer patient in a position of great uncertainty at a
time when their life has already been disrupted greatly. In the end it
is a difficult decision as to how to treat one's cancer. These people
deserve the best care and scientific information available and the
freedom of choice to choose the best path for themselves.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt