cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Takes on Colon Cancer Marijuana Takes on Colon Cancer Posted by CN Staff on August 01, 2008 at 08:03:07 PT By Aria Pearson, NewScientist.com News Service Source: New Scientist USA -- The chemicals in marijuana could put the brakes on colon cancer, according to new research. That doesn't mean smoking a joint will help, though, as the chemicals only form part of the process.Raymond DuBois and colleagues at the University of Texas in Houston discovered that a key receptor for cannabinoids, which are found in marijuana, is turned off in most types of human colon cancer. Without this receptor, a protein called survivin, which stops cells from dying, increases unchecked and causes tumour growth.To better understand the role that the receptor, called CB1, plays in cancer progression, the researchers manipulated its expression in mice that had been genetically engineered to spontaneously develop colon tumours."When we knocked out the receptor, the number of tumors went up dramatically," says DuBois. Alternatively, when mice with normal CB1 receptors were treated with a cannabinoid compound, their tumours shrank. Dual Attack The findings suggest a two-step treatment plan for colon cancer, as well as for other cancers that might be linked to this receptor.First, turn the CB1 receptor back on, and then activate it with drugs currently in development that mimic marijuana. But how to turn it on?The researchers found that in human colon cancer cells, the gene that makes the receptor is blocked by a process called methylation, in which a small chemical group is added to the DNA.Treating the cells with decitibine – a demethylating drug already approved for use in humans – removed the chemical group and the gene began making the receptor. Drugs that mimic marijuana might then activate the receptor, although DuBois did not test this.Journal reference: Cancer Research (vol 68, p 6468)Source: New Scientist (UK)Author: Aria Pearson, NewScientist.com News Service Published: August 1, 2008Copyright: New Scientist, RBI Limited 2008Contact: letters newscientist.comWebsite: http://www.newscientist.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #25 posted by Hope on August 07, 2008 at 09:16:31 PT FoM There is so much sorrow and grief in life.It seems strange that people would want to deny other people a bit of hope from respite from some of it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by Hope on August 07, 2008 at 09:13:01 PT Paul Armentano! You did so well!My husband, the Republican, listened, too. He said you did a very good job, too.You were very, very well spoken and clear, and so very, very much, the voice of reason in the truly unreasonable world of cannabis prohibition.You were powerful, Paul. Very powerful.Thank you, so much. [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by FoM on August 07, 2008 at 08:14:11 PT Hope I just talked to my sister and they will be doing a CT scan on my niece tomorrow. They said it doesn't look good unfortunately. [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by FoM on August 07, 2008 at 07:58:29 PT Hope My connection is really weird. I don't think I could download anything until it's fixed. I called technical support and they put a ticket out on it. They might be upgrading local towers to go to Rev A and that would be great. I could watch the Equestrian Events at the Olympics then. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by Hope on August 07, 2008 at 07:41:19 PT Loading 38%Slow... but so far, so good.Getting chores done.:0) [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by Hope on August 07, 2008 at 06:50:29 PT Audio I had to abort the loading last time... and now I've got it going again and, hopefully, will be able to continue until it's completely downloaded. Been at it for a while now... but I'm at 21%, again, and still going, and expect and hope, if all goes well, to have the time to get it done, this time.22% Loading.... loading... loading.... [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by Hope on August 04, 2008 at 06:49:40 PT Paul Armentano If I can't get it loaded and hear what you have to say...and give you my opinion of how well you did... how about you tell me how well you think you did? Were you able to say what you wanted to? Do you feel you did your best? I'd bet you did a very honorable job, even without hearing it, if it's comparable to every other good work you've done in this area.You are your own harshest critic, I would think. Do you think you did ok?I'm still loading (21% now)... but I know you did admirably and I, along with many others, do appreciate and thank you so much. I see your efforts as truly heroic, well done, and just, and thank you, again. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by FoM on August 04, 2008 at 06:10:49 PT Related Article From Medical News Today Turned-off Cannabinoid Receptor Turns On Colorectal Tumor Growth - CB1 Suppresses Tumors, A New Potential Path For Treatment, PreventionAugust 4, 2008http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/117055.php [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by FoM on August 04, 2008 at 06:04:31 PT Hope I hope you can get it downloaded. On dial up it is hard to do. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by Hope on August 04, 2008 at 05:49:13 PT FoM 13 On that one... I didn't get the part where Paul spoke either. It looks like, by going to the Show Audio instead of Highlights, which is what I did before, as Paul has directed, I'll be able to hear it. There have been snags, on this computer, in doing this... but I think the right thing is finally loading now. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by Hope on August 04, 2008 at 05:44:42 PT 67 MB :0(I've got 1% loaded. I hope it will load before tonight! [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by Hope on August 04, 2008 at 05:32:40 PT Paul I'm still trying. If I can't get the audio of your section this time, I'll just have to give up. I know you did an excellent job without hearing it.... but I want to hear it. So I'm trying again.Loading. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by FoM on August 02, 2008 at 05:31:12 PT Hope This is how I did it. I downloaded the program from this link and then I was able to go to where Paul was interviewed and I didn't have to listen to Toby Keith or the one after Paul.http://fetch.noxsolutions.com/ww1/mp3/drdrew_073108.mp3 [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Paint with light on August 02, 2008 at 02:11:30 PT Ying Yang Dark: Toby Keith, War, Hate, Alcohol, stumbling delivery, wandering thoughts.Light; Paul Armentano, Ending a War, compassion, cannabis, clear, concise, factual without being overly factual(too much information won't be remembered by your audience).Seems like Dr. Drew may be coming around, slowly.Thanks for continuing to chip away at the wall of denial.Legally, I will settle for "equal with alcohol". [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by paul armentano on August 01, 2008 at 23:53:13 PT Hope Go here:http://www.westwoodone.com/drewScroll to "Show audio," not "Audio Highlights."Play the July 31 episode: "play audio" or "MP3." It's there; I played it this morning.Hope that helps [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Hope on August 01, 2008 at 21:01:22 PT Paul Armentano It stops at the end of the Toby Keith piece. I can't find where there's any more.I really want to hear it. I tried both options and they both stop at the end of the Keith interview. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by observer on August 01, 2008 at 16:10:22 PT Forced Rimonabant Anyone seen this yet? QUIT CANNABISA first step in determining the effectiveness of a therapy may be a pilot study. The Langton Centre, a specialist outpatient clinic for drug and alcohol treatment attached to Sydney Hospital, initiated a study this year of a possible new drug treatment for cannabis addiction. Currently the only treatment is counselling.The drug, Rimonabant, is a cannabis-receptor antagonist marketed in Australia as the weight loss drug Accomplia. It blocks the receptors in the brain where cannabis acts, so cannabis has a diminished or no effect when people are taking it. Twelve volunteers enrolled, all of whom are participants in rehabilitation programs run by the Ted Noffs Foundation and three government treatment clinics. Participants, whose average age was 26, were offered a daily 20-milligram tablet of Rimonabant for up to 3 months.Dr Mark Montebello and Dr James Bell, who initiated and conducted the three-month study, knew it was fraught with difficulties. They recruited mainly people with a history of mental illness - heavy cannabis users, smoking on average 26 out of 28 days before they joined the rehabilitation programs. Although Rimonabant is available in Australia, the US Food and Drug Administration has so far refused to approve its use because of adverse side effects in clinical trials, including an increase in anxiety and depression.Bell, an addiction medicine physician and director of the drug and alcohol program for the South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service, says there has not been a clinical trial reported anywhere of Rimonabant's potential as a treatment for cannabis addiction.Two volunteers were hospitalised for psychiatric illness during the study, but Bell does not believe Rimonabant was the cause. Those remaining in the trial were tracked for six months, and the results, reported late last year at a conference in New Zealand, showed that most participants had a marked reduction in cannabis use (which was verified by urine tests).Bell and Montebello are evaluating the results, which appear encouraging, and preparing them for publication. "I am not trying to talk up this drug as a treatment. Treating cannabis dependence is difficult, and while in our trial Rimonabant helped some individuals to interrupt heavy cannabis use, it also caused many side effects, and people took it mostly for short periods. I don't want mothers ringing me, hoping it's a cure for their sons. If we are to proceed to larger clinical trials, against a placebo, we would use it as a short-term initial intervention, to be followed with longer-term counselling." http://drugsense.org/url/fkUG0PQU This little drug went to market 31/07/2008 12:00:01 AM Campbelltown - Macarthur Advertiser [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Sam Adams on August 01, 2008 at 14:45:23 PT observer Ha! Those are some great names. Seriously, maybe you should get into consulting, they pay a lot of money for that kind of talent! I remember reading somewhere that a HUGE amount of money was paid to a marketing consulting firm to come up with the name "Viagra" [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on August 01, 2008 at 12:38:34 PT Paul Thank you. I have it downloading and will listen to it soon. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by fight_4_freedom on August 01, 2008 at 12:33:51 PT: Excellent Job Paul You are so very well spoken. I'm glad we have a guy like you leading the way for NORML. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by observer on August 01, 2008 at 12:28:46 PT Smoking a Joint Will Help That doesn't mean smoking a joint will help...Notice the ritual "but don't smoke pot!" disclaimer. This is the real message I think. Drugs that mimic marijuana might then activate the receptor... Drugs that mimic marijuana - but of course which our corporation hold the patents for. Drugs that mimic marijuana, but have that evil "high" removed. Better yet, some unpleasant side effects that really hurt - so you know you have "taken your medicine," good and proper. Maybe something with a name like Obeyall(TM), Nocannibate(TM), Marijailon(TM), Maldopex(TM), Legalizercideol(TM), or Deddoperall(TM). Sure, the new prescription-only patent-medicine will be "cannabis-based" in some, historical, sense. But the bottom line will be corporate profits. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by paul armentano on August 01, 2008 at 11:48:19 PT Archived audio of my Drew Drew radio appearance You can listen to the archived audio of my appearance yesterday on the Drew Pinsky (Dr. Drew) radio show here:http://www.westwoodone.com/drewThe MP3 of the program is available here:http://fetch.noxsolutions.com/ww1/mp3/drdrew_073108.mp3Jul 31, 2008: Dr. Drew welcomes Musician Toby Keith to talk about his new film "Beer For My Horses." Then, he talks to Deputy Director of NORML, Paul Armentano. Last but not least, Elaine Liner shares her thoughts on The Baby Borrowers.I come on 30 minutes in (following Toby Keith). We discuss HR 5843 and the futility of government efforts to control what substances people put in their bodies. (Note in the intro Drew refers to me as a "very bright gentleman;" I'm flattered!) He held me over the break and our discussion lasts about 30 minutes. (I felt the second segment was stronger than the first...)Let me know what you think. http://www.westwoodone.com/drew [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on August 01, 2008 at 09:33:28 PT new science "The chemicals in marijuana could put the brakes on colon cancer, according to new research. That doesn't mean smoking a joint will help, though, as the chemicals only form part of the process."Oh, this is interesting - does New Scientist have empirical proof that cannabis smoking will have no beneficial effect on colon cancer? Did this study prove that cannabis smoking has no effect on colon cancer?The answer is of course no. So "New" Scientist is full of "New" horses***.Watch your back in Western medicine folks! These people do not have a good track record of taking care of patients. Instead they have a 150 year record of forcing overly interventionist, often toxic and harmful therapies on people. You can laugh at herbal medicine all you want, but herbal medicine practitioners never told people to take deadly lead and mercury-based "medicine". Herbal medicine never sliced people to ribbons doing uneccesary surgeries to make money off the sick and dying. Herbal medicine never gave meth pills and deadly Paxil to thousands of children. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on August 01, 2008 at 08:56:54 PT The War on Drugs has dumbed down science Drugs that mimic marijuana. What smarmy PC dreck. And who's to say that the drugs that already ARE in marijuana don't know how to turn on the CB1 receptor by themselves?Seriously. Is anybody looking? I suspect not, because the War on Drugs is death to simple curiosity. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on August 01, 2008 at 08:50:00 PT Marijuana Cures Cancer! Yes, but you can't have it, even if you have cancer! Go figure! But cigarettes, which kill 500,000 American every YEAR of which 32,000 from 2nd hand smoke, mostly infants and kids, you CAN have!And all of this, for the profit of the pharmaceutical industry who is in bed with US Congress!But hey who cares or even notices? People are sheep anyway. On a mission from God! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment