cannabisnews.com: Cannabis Compound May Stop Breast Cancer Cannabis Compound May Stop Breast Cancer Posted by CN Staff on November 19, 2007 at 11:56:06 PT News Story Source: Forbes Magazine California -- A non-toxic, non-psychoactive compound in marijuana may block the progress of metastatic breast cancer, according to a new study by researchers in California. "This is a new way to treat a patient that is not toxic like chemotherapy or radiotherapy. It is a new approach for metastatic cancer," said lead researcher Sean D. McAllister, an associate scientist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco. The compound found in cannabis, called cannabidiol (CBD), inhibits a gene, Id-1, that researchers believe is responsible for the metastatic process that spreads cells from the original tumor throughout the body.Opting for a musical metaphor, senior researcher Pierre-Yves Desprez likened Id-1 to "an [orchestra] conductor. In this case, you shoot the conductor, and the whole orchestra is going to stop. If you shoot the violinist, the orchestra just continues to play."In humans, the Id-1 gene is found only in metastatic cancer cells, said Desprez, a staff scientist at the institute. Before birth, they are present and involved in the development of human embryos, but after birth, they go silent -- and should stay that way, he said.But in metastatic cancer "when [the genes] wake up, they are very bad," he said. "They push the cells to behave like embryonic cells and grow. They go crazy, they proliferate, they migrate." Desprez said, "We need to be able to turn them off."According to the study, CBD does exactly that."We are focusing on the latest stages of cancer," Desprez added. The cancer cell itself is not the problem, because a tumor can be "removed easily by surgery," he said. The problem is the development of metastatic cells which is "conducted" by Id-1.McAllister and Desprez said they are not suggesting that patients with hormone-independent metastatic breast cancer smoke marijuana. For one thing, a sufficient amount of CBD could never be obtained in that way, they said.The research that has been done on marijuana and its compounds, however, is helpful, McAllister, said. CBD has been around for a long time, and researchers have found it is not psychoactive, and its "toxicity is very low," he added.The new findings are published in the November issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.If McAllister's and Desprez's work results in the development of a cancer treatment, someone with metastatic cancer might be placed on CBD for several years. That means low toxicity is important, McAllister explained.McAllister also suggested that Id-1 is "so important in providing the [metastatic] mechanism in these cells in so many types of cancers" that they "provide us an opportunity potentially to target other types of cancers."The study's findings were "were a serendipitous discovery, in a way," McAllister said. Desprez noted that he had been working on the Id-1 gene for 12 years. His lab had demonstrated that it was a key gene for invasive breast cancer and tumor progression, and Desprez had found a way to inhibit it in mice, but not in humans.Then, two years ago, McAllister -- an expert on cannabinoids -- and Desprez, a cancer researcher, started to work together. Through their combined forces "what we found is actually what I was looking for for the last 12 years," Desprez said.Further study is needed before CBD can be conclusively identified as a treatment option, McAllister and Desprez said. "We need to involve a team of physicians, because we are bench [basic] scientists," McAllister said.One expert called the findings intriguing but preliminary."This is the first evidence that a cannabinoid can target the expression of an important breast cancer metastasis gene," noted Manuel Guzman, a Spanish expert on cannabinoids and cancer. He described the California study as giving "preliminary insight into the question of whether CBD could be used clinically to treat metastatic breast cancer."However, "all the experiments in the paper have been conducted in cultured cells and none of them in any animal model of breast cancer, which would be one of the steps for further research," added Guzman, who is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Complutense University in Madrid.Guzman also noted that "Id-1 is just one of many genes involved in breast cancer metastasis" and that future research also needs to examine the impact of CBD on these other metastasis genes.More information: There's more on breast cancer at the U.S. National Cancer Institute: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breastComplete Title: Cannabis Compound May Stop Metastatic Breast CancerSource: Forbes Magazine (US)Published: November 19, 2007Copyright: 2007 Forbes Inc.Contact: readers forbes.comWebsite: http://www.forbes.com/Related Articles: 'Cannabis' May Halt Breast Cancer http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23488.shtmlPot Shrinks Tumors: Government Knew in 74http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5972.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #23 posted by The GCW on November 19, 2007 at 21:05:36 PT ekim, Just read this and it relates..."""In 2006, only 2,000 hectares of hemp were grown in Alberta. That's more than in the United States, where there's still a ban on growing industrial hemp, a situation Wolodko calls "ridiculous." """CN AB: Alberta Seeks New Use For Hemphttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1334/a03.html?397 [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by greenmed on November 19, 2007 at 20:38:14 PT CBD This is indeed one more benefit of hemp. The ratio of THC to CBD is determined by the genetics of the plant. DNA encodes for two isoforms of the enzyme THCA synthase that convert the precursor CBG to either THC or CBD.http://www.genetics.org/cgi/content/full/163/1/335http://pcp.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/46/9/1578Degrading THC by oxidation results in CBN, so that would be a waste. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by ekim on November 19, 2007 at 19:58:32 PT how much CBD was used -- does anyone know much about Row vrs Wade -- what did that case mean for privacy -- i hear the pres debates and they are fallen over each other saying they are for privacy -- well if a woman has had it called for her -- where do the rest of us fit in -- if the govt says cannabis will make you violent and your not -- how can it prove to a jury that you have harmed anything, and must be found inocent.i hope congress will call the 5 remaining IND patients left to bring there med records and come to DC and tell how for over 20 years they have been helped by cannabis. on C-Spanthen have the Hincey bill voted on the ND judge will rule next month on the Hemp bill i still can not understand how Ronald has gotten away with not signing the Hemp bill two years in a row. if there is anyone in the country who is aware of the impact of hemp on biofuel - ethanol its the geeks --to see the plastic market be taken to the well heads and not have a back up here with cellulose da---whatyathinking--- [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by The GCW on November 19, 2007 at 19:13:51 PT Hemp high in cannabidiol (CBD), Hemp Is high in cannabidiol (CBD),...Hemp seed oil also contains gamma linolenic acid (GLA) which contributes to a strong immune system.There is more and more... to work together between hemp / cannabis and the human. They are needed by the human body to work properly - together as is planned.Where the benefits of one compound ends the benefits of another compound begins. They all cover and overlap each other.Cannabis, the superplant is more than even activist imagine;cannabis is the tree of life.-0-It is no wonder the federal government wants Americans and the rest of earth to never have access to cannabis. The US government still wants to completely exterminate the valuable life saving plant.-LIFE SAVING PLANT--0-I don't believe in men killing men; but if men are going to kill men then let men kill men that exterminate and prohibit the life saving, relatively safe God-given cannabis (kaneh bosm) plant.Bushmonkey and Your goons; You're up.-0-The doctors refer to cannabis as "marijuana."What other herbs or plants do doctors refer to by a Mexican / prohibitionist slang term? Cannabidiol comes from cannabis not marijuana or the devil weed etc...-0-If a person couldn't get enough cannabidiol by smoking it to stop cancer... once it starts... could smoking help years in advance of cancer; helping keep cancer from forming?They used to say "marijuana" causes cancer, which We now know is a lie (there are no dead bodies to show for it); I wonder if the truth then is the exact opposite; We get cancer when We stop smoking "marijuana"??? [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by mayan on November 19, 2007 at 16:43:15 PT They've Known I strongly suspect that the federal government has known all along about the miraculous healing properties of the cannabis plant. It just doesn't fit into their agenda of global depopulation.THE WAY OUT...BRADBLOG EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Ellsberg Says Sibel Edmonds Case 'Far More Explosive Than Pentagon Papers': http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=2007111990735600 [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by HempWorld on November 19, 2007 at 16:32:40 PT Marijuana Now Legal In Canada! Since Fri July 13th Brand New Article Nov 19th 2007: Marijuana Possession Below -------------------- Judge Rules Canada's Pot Possession Laws Unconstitutional Fri, 13 Jul 2007 © Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Canada Web) A Toronto judge has ruled that Canada's pot possession laws are unconstitutional after a man argued the country's medicinal marijuana regulations are flawed. The 29-year-old Toronto resident had been charged with possession of about 3.5 grams or roughly $45 dollars worth of marijuana. The man has no medical issues and doesn't want a medical exemption to smoke marijuana. In 2001, Health Canada implemented the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, which allow access to marijuana to people who are suffering from grave and debilitating illnesses. In court, the man argued that the federal government only made it policy to provide marijuana to those who need it, but never made it an actual law. Because of that, he argued, all possession laws, whether medicinal or not, should be quashed. The judge agreed and dismissed the charges. "The government told the public not to worry about access to marijuana," said Judge Howard Borenstein. "They have a policy but not law.... In my view that is unconstitutional." Defence lawyer Brian McAllister, who represented the man, said the ramifications of the ruling have potential to be "pretty big." "Obviously, there's thousands of people that get charged with this offence every year," he said. McAllister said Ontario residents charged with possessing marijuana now have a new defence. "That's probably why the government will likely appeal the decision," he said. Borenstein has given prosecutors two weeks before he makes his ruling official. Prosecutors told CBC News they want a speedy appeal to overturn the decision. "For the time being, nothing changes," Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash said about how the force deals with marijuana possession. "We have to wait and see what happens with the process through the courts." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Marijuana Possession Globe and Mail (Canada) © 2007Pot Activists Hail Ruling OTTAWA -- Marijuana activists are hailing a recent court ruling as the beginning of the end of Canada's prohibition on pot, but the Crown dismisses the decision as non-binding. A trial judge in Oshawa, Ont., threw out charges of simple possession of marijuana against three young men on Oct. 19, relying on a previous court ruling that found Canada's pot law unconstitutional. In making his decision, Judge Norman Edmondson cited a decision last July by a fellow judge of the Ontario Court of Justice. In the earlier case, which is being appealed by the Crown, Judge Howard Borenstein accepted the defence lawyer's argument that Ottawa must pass a law - rather than rely solely on government policy - to allow accredited medical marijuana users to possess pot. (see article above)Health Canada has been forced by a series of court decisions to set up a medical marijuana program authorizing patients struggling with chronic conditions to use dope to alleviate their symptoms. And a court ruling in 2003 required Health Canada to provide government-certified marijuana to these patients so they don't have to turn to the black market for their medicine. In the July 13 Borenstein decision, defence lawyer Bryan McAllister successfully argued that the law itself should have been changed, not just the program. And because the law has not been rewritten to accommodate medical users, the prohibition on all use - including recreational use - collapses because the law is unconstitutional, the court ruled. A spokeswoman for the Crown said the October decision in Oshawa will not be appealed. "The decision of the trial judge is not binding upon any other trial judge and the [Borenstein] decision he relied upon ... was wrongly decided," Stephane Marinier, of the Brampton, Ont., office of Public Prosecution Service of Canada, said in a e-mail. The Crown will make its counterarguments in an appeal of the Borenstein decision at Ontario's Superior Court of Justice, Ms. Marinier said. Legalize It! [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by JustGetnBy on November 19, 2007 at 15:10:04 PT Post#15 Right on Rev.... preach it Brother. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by FoM on November 19, 2007 at 14:30:17 PT Who Knows The Benefits Of The Whole Plant? Maybe even stems have some medicinal value and are important as use as medicine. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by BGreen on November 19, 2007 at 14:19:16 PT We can't sell expensive pills if you smoke it Cannabis has once again been shown to have another anti-cancer component.THC, even though it has "psychoactive" effects, has been shown to kill cancer cells and cut off the blood supply to tumors, and now this exciting news about CBD.Yes, maybe CBD by itself might help the fight against cancer, and THC by itself might also help.However, the symbiotic relationship between the whole cannabis plant and the endocannabinoid system in humans suggests that we would be better served by the broader cannabinoid profile of the whole plant, instead of isolating, extracting and administering high-potency doses of single cannabinoids.Would high dosages of single a cannabinoid throw our entire endocannabinoid system out of balance, possibly causing other major health problems?I'd bet you the answer is "yes."The continued arrest and imprisonment for a plant with anti-cancer properties is a violation of every moral and ethical law of humanity.The Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by observer on November 19, 2007 at 14:08:23 PT Sanctimonious BS Unlike THC, an ingredient also isolated from marijuana, CBD doesn't have psychoactive properties. The researchers point out that this isn't a recommendation for people with breast cancer to smoke marijuana.The writers just can't resist this bit of sanctimonious b.s., can they? Anything positive, any positive, medcal effect pot has is censored. Or, if some scrap of this kind of news does leak out, the gatekeepers trip over one another to tell us "this isn't a recommendation for people... to smoke marijuana." Horsefeathers. To the contrary, taking cannabis seems to prevent many ailments. It must be impossible for PC, MSM writers to leave off the hectoring and scolding phrase like, "this isn't a recommendation for people... to smoke marijuana," each time some more good news about pot slips out. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by FoM on November 19, 2007 at 13:06:49 PT Related Article from NBC11 Study: Cannabis Compound Can Help Slow Breast Cancer*** November 19, 2007New hope for patients with aggressive breast cancer may come in the form of an isolated compound found in cannabis, said researchers at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, a nonprofit Sutter Health affiliate.The study, released in the medical journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, discovered that the CBD compound found in cannabis can slow the activity of a gene that causes the spread of cancer cells.Researchers announced the finding with hope that the compound could be part of a non-toxic treatment for metastatic breast cancer. URL: http://www.nbc11.com/news/14639511/detail.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on November 19, 2007 at 13:04:20 PT Related Article from Associated Content Another Medical Use for the Marijuana PlantCannabidiol May Help in the Fight Against Breast CancerNovember 19, 2007According to a press release on Newswise.com, Sean D. McAllister, Ph.D. at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, is the lead author of a study that is published in the November journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. The Study is called Inhibition of Breast Cancer Aggressiveness by Cannabidiol and was presented at the California Breast Cancer Research Symposium in September 2007.URL: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/453058/another_medical_use_for_the_marijuana.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by potpal on November 19, 2007 at 13:02:32 PT More proof That cannabis prohibition is a crime against humanity.Sow every seed. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Max Flowers on November 19, 2007 at 12:42:20 PT HempWorld Thank you but I understood all that already...! (I'm in this field actually) I thought you were tying the relative inaccessibility of hemp products to people currently suffering from cancer. If somebody wants medical CBD, it is a fairly easy thing to degrade THC to CBD. CBD is what THC degrades into oxidatively. That's why "shwag" (degraded pot like bad commercial Mexican) often contains lots of CBDs and little THC. You could under CA law legally take some high-THC hash oil and purposely degrade it with heat to contain mostly CBD. So it's not like it can't be obtained. It's just that of course, as you say, if we had massive fields of legal hemp in the state, then specific medical CBD could be made from some part of it and we'd have a huge supply for all people smart enough to take it as medicine. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Max Flowers on November 19, 2007 at 12:27:55 PT Sam It didn't evolve in the way your question phrases it. My feeling is that there were probably already-potent "drug strains" around 5,000+ years ago in certain geographical areas, which were used by people medicinally, spiritually and recreationally. Certainly as you know there has been lots of breeding in recent decades to try to increase potency, and before that it was probably done but on a much more limited, unscientific and private scale (think Indian or Nepalese farmers). Ancient Chinese who were using it medicinally were probably using whatever grew naturally there, which in that region was an indica landrace. I bet Chinese indica from 5,000 years ago was plenty potent.Cannabis was in those days and for many centuries forward both industrial and medicinal. The traits of cannabis are largely determined by the conditions in the region it is grown in. It adapts to them. Many people suspect that trichomes (THC/cannabinoid-bearing glands) are an adaptive measure, a self-protection strategy by the plant. So cannabis that grows in a tropical, rainy locale with very intense sunlight will grow loose feathery buds that resist mold and will grow very tall. Voila: sativa. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by HempWorld on November 19, 2007 at 12:22:41 PT To: Max Flowers Industrial hemp is very high (no pun intended) in CBD, hence eating or using hemp in your diet would prevent you from getting cancer, No. 1 and it would help stop cancer from spreading No 2. and it would greatly increase the survival rate of cancer patients No. 3. Current State laws allowing medicinal cannabis, (high in THC) is mostly for acute pain and nausea from chemo or radiation. Hemp is the must nutritious plant on earth and it prevents cancer but we cannot have it!I hope you understand now.Ps. Hemp would also enable us to be independent from Middle Eastern Oil and we would never have terrorism as we know it today. But that is just another reason why we cannot have it! On a mission from God! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on November 19, 2007 at 12:22:14 PT Related Article from United Press International Marijuana Compound May Help Against Cancer***SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- CBD, a compound found in marijuana, may help stop the spread of breast cancer cells throughout the body, a U.S. study suggested.Sean D. McAllister, a cancer researcher at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco, said the marijuana compound could be the first non-toxic agent to show promise in treating metastatic forms of breast cancer."Right now we have a limited range of options in treating aggressive forms of cancer," McAllister said in a statement. "Those treatments, such as chemotherapy, can be effective but they can also be extremely toxic and difficult for patients. This compound offers the hope of a non-toxic therapy that could achieve the same results without any of the painful side effects."The study, published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, used CBD to inhibit the activity of the gene Id-1, which is believed to be responsible for the aggressive spread of cancer cells throughout the body. Unlike THC, an ingredient also isolated from marijuana, CBD doesn't have psychoactive properties. The researchers point out that this isn't a recommendation for people with breast cancer to smoke marijuana.McAllister said it was highly unlikely that effective concentrations of CBD could be reached by smoking marijuana.Copyright: 2007 United Press Internationalhttp://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Health/2007/11/19/marijuana_compound_may_help_against_cancer/5409/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Max Flowers on November 19, 2007 at 12:13:17 PT HempWorld I'm not really following your logic there. I also dislike the Governator's refusal so far to allow hemp farming, but people with cancer can of course use cannabis under H&S 11362, so I don't quite get how you tie his no-hemp policy to people currently suffering with cancer. People with cancer in CA should already be using medical cannabis...? I agree though that he is betraying the people of CA with his refusal to stand up to the feds and defend Californians on the medical cannabis issue, and his vetoing of hemp farming (another miserable failure to stand up for his people and not bow to the feds). [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by sam adams on November 19, 2007 at 12:11:06 PT one more note Cannabis indica is high in CBD (higher than sativa). It would be very easy to look in the seed catalogs of a few Dutch companies & pick out the most indica strains with the highest CBD. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Sam Adams on November 19, 2007 at 12:10:00 PT one note Think about this for a second: it's quite possible that all of these miraculous healing powers powers of cannabis are no accident.It's very possible that the plant was slowly bred by us, homo sapiens, to become more medically potent. How did cannabis evolve from industrial hemp to what we have now? It's quite possible that humans did the breeding. When you look over a time scale of tens of thousands of years, there's plenty of time to transform a plant through selective breeding. That's precisely what was done with many of our main staple food crops today.Many researches think that the soil of the entire Amazon basin in South American was terra-formed by the natives there. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by HempWorld on November 19, 2007 at 12:03:39 PT Yes FoM, but the Governator has decided we can't have it and that while waiting for it we must die of cancer. What a great Governor we have in California; the terminator, hasta la vista baby! On a mission from God! [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Max Flowers on November 19, 2007 at 12:02:50 PT FoM Yes, if hemp varieties have lots of CBD, which as I recall, they do (could be wrong though). Hemp-cannabis flowers could conceivably be extracted for CBD, even though normally it is harvested for stalk fiber and seed. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 19, 2007 at 11:57:53 PT Just a Thought Doesn't this mean that Hemp has one more benefit? [ Post Comment ] Post Comment