Cannabis Reduces Brain Tumors

Cannabinoids found in marijuana have shown to inhibit tumor cell growth. This is achieved in how they effect signaling pathways in the brain. Treatment with cannabis has been found to be cheaper to produce and have less side effects and toxicity to other conventional chemo therapies and drugs, encouraging further research to make it a mainstream medicine.(Source)

In 1998 it was first recorded that delta-9-THC promoted cell death in glioma (brain tumor) cells in cultures.(Source) In 2000 a study was done with THC as well as WIN 55,212-2 which is a chemical that shows effects similar to cannabinoids, with a completley different chemical structure. Both increased ceramides which inhibited cancer cell growth.(Source) Ceramides are fatty acids that tumor cells seem to invite in. Ceramides communicate with the lysosomes in the cells to tell them to burst, killing the cancer cell. Ceramides are also important in hair and skin acting as a protective shield against the environment.(Source)

A study in 2003 found that THC in laboratory tests create cell destruction in cells by modifying the signal pathways inside the tumor, allowing it to disrupt growth or kill the tumor. (Source) With much discussion about THC benefiting tumor cell death, research also concluded that the cannabinoid CBD also showed equally promising results in tumor cell death without the psycho active properties. (Source)

In 2004 it was found that cannabinoids reduce tumor growth by affecting the vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF, or the function of giving blood supply to tissue when circulation is inadequate. The blocking of the pathway to blood flow of tumors showed a reduction in the tumor cells. (Source)

In 2005 a study found that THC did a better job of only inhibiting the growth of tumor cells as opposed to healthy cells more effectively than the chemical medicine WIN 55,212-2. (Source)

Professor Guzman who conducted a lot of these research studies found in 2006 that patients with reoccuring glioblastoma multiforme showed a reduction in tumors. (Source) In 2010 it was found in research that a widely used chemotherapy drug used to treat brain tumors called temozolomide (TMZ) increased effectiveness when administered with THC. (Source) A report was published in 2011 in which two children using cannabis to treat cerebellar and optic pathway tumors by inhibiting the growth effectively.(Source)

In 2014 glioma, an aggressive and hard to treat cancer in the brain was treated with CBD and THC along with radiotherapy. Results found that the combination of the cannabinoids found in marijuana improved the radiotherapy by prepping the glioma cells to receive the ionizing radiation more effectively and reducing the tumor cells.(Source)

Source:

http://www.nature.com/nrc/journal/v3/n10/abs/nrc1188.html

http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2014/11/12/1535-7163.MCT-14-0402.abstract

http://norml.org/library/item/gliomascancer

http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/54/5/834.short

http://www.sharecare.com/health/cancer-treatment/how-ceramides-help-fight-cancer

http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/308/3/838.full

http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/10/1/90.abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21336992