Marijuana's Active Ingredients May Have Power To Kill Aggressive Brain Cancer
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Marijuana's active ingredients have the power to kill a certain type of aggressive brain cancer, according to a new study.
Cannabinoids and THC were shown to inhibit the growth of high-grade glioma in the study conducted by the Oncology Department at St. George's University of London.
"High-grade glioma is one of the most aggressive cancers in adult humans and long-term survival rates are very low as standard treatments for glioma remain largely unsuccessful," according to researchers Wai M. Liu, Katherine A. Scott, and Angus G. Dalgleish.
The team used the combination of THC, CBD and radiation in the treatment of glioma for the study, published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
"Taken together, our data highlight the possibility that these cannabinoids can prime glioma cells to respond better to ionizing radiation, and suggest a potential clinical benefit for glioma patients using these two treatment modalities."