Medicinal Marijuana -- cancer

[Guest guest]

At 02:07 AM 1/6/2006, wrote:

>i think i'm qualified to chat about grass, my son was recently in

>the alfred in melbourne, he is a chronic smoker of the drug and is

>subsequently a schitzophrenic. The welfare worker who came to talk

>to him told my son " of the cases in the 'HEAD' WARD, 86% of them

>were marijuana smokers. " mind you i'm talking about pple who

>positivly abuse the drug, but, if thats where it can lead.............

Dope smokers have a strong tendency to question authority and

conventional mores. Worse, most of them don't even want to go to

war. This sounds like incipient mutiny. Set an example and lock 'em

up, right? Personally I think their rebellion is a big plus for

society. I just don't like the laziness that is typical among them.

Cancer Res. 2004 Aug 15;64(16):5617-23.

Cannabinoids inhibit the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway in gliomas.

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Search & itool=pubmed\

_Abstract & term=%22Blazquez+C%22%5BAuthor%5D>Blazquez

C,

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Search & itool=pubmed\

_Abstract & term=%22%2DFeria+L%22%5BAuthor%5D>-Feria

L,

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Search & itool=pubmed\

_Abstract & term=%22Alvarez+L%22%5BAuthor%5D>Alvarez

L,

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Search & itool=pubmed\

_Abstract & term=%22Haro+A%22%5BAuthor%5D>Haro

A,

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Search & itool=pubmed\

_Abstract & term=%22Casanova+ML%22%5BAuthor%5D>Casanova

ML,

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed & cmd=Search & itool=pubmed\

_Abstract & term=%22Guzman+M%22%5BAuthor%5D>Guzman

M.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of

Biology, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain.

Cannabinoids inhibit tumor angiogenesis in mice, but the mechanism of

their antiangiogenic action is still unknown. Because the vascular

endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway plays a critical role in

tumor angiogenesis, here we studied whether cannabinoids affect it.

As a first approach, cDNA array analysis showed that cannabinoid

administration to mice bearing s.c. gliomas lowered the expression of

various VEGF pathway-related genes. The use of other methods (ELISA,

Western blotting, and confocal microscopy) provided additional

evidence that cannabinoids depressed the VEGF pathway by decreasing

the production of VEGF and the activation of VEGF receptor (VEGFR)-2,

the most prominent VEGF receptor, in cultured glioma cells and in

mouse gliomas. Cannabinoid-induced inhibition of VEGF production and

VEGFR-2 activation was abrogated both in vitro and in vivo by

pharmacological blockade of ceramide biosynthesis. These changes in

the VEGF pathway were paralleled by changes in tumor size. Moreover,

intratumoral administration of the cannabinoid

Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol to two patients with glioblastoma

multiforme (grade IV astrocytoma) decreased VEGF levels and VEGFR-2

activation in the tumors. Because blockade of the VEGF pathway

constitutes one of the most promising antitumoral approaches

currently available, the present findings provide a novel

pharmacological target for cannabinoid-based therapies.

PMID: 15313899 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]