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Aug. 16th, 2004 12:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsyche'Cannabis' brain tumour drug hope
An ingredient in marijuana may be useful for treating brain cancers, say Spanish researchers from Madrid.
Chemicals called cannabinoids could starve tumours to death by halting the growth of blood vessels that feed it, the Complutense University team hope.
By studying mice, the team has shown for the first time how these chemicals block vessel growth.
Their study, published in Cancer Research, also shows the treatment appears to work in humans.
[...] The researchers first gave mice cancer resembling the human form of brain cancer they wanted to study.
They then treated the mice with cannabinoid and examined the genes of the mice.
The activity of genes associated with blood vessel growth in tumours through the production of a substance called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was reduced.
Cannabinoids appeared to stifle VEGF production by increasing the activity of a substance that controls cell death, called ceramide.
Lead researcher Dr Guzmán said: "As far as we know, this is the first report showing that ceramide depresses VEGF pathway by interfering with VEGF production."
An ingredient in marijuana may be useful for treating brain cancers, say Spanish researchers from Madrid.
Chemicals called cannabinoids could starve tumours to death by halting the growth of blood vessels that feed it, the Complutense University team hope.
By studying mice, the team has shown for the first time how these chemicals block vessel growth.
Their study, published in Cancer Research, also shows the treatment appears to work in humans.
[...] The researchers first gave mice cancer resembling the human form of brain cancer they wanted to study.
They then treated the mice with cannabinoid and examined the genes of the mice.
The activity of genes associated with blood vessel growth in tumours through the production of a substance called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was reduced.
Cannabinoids appeared to stifle VEGF production by increasing the activity of a substance that controls cell death, called ceramide.
Lead researcher Dr Guzmán said: "As far as we know, this is the first report showing that ceramide depresses VEGF pathway by interfering with VEGF production."
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Date: 2004-08-16 03:16 pm (UTC)