HEALTH NEWS & RESEARCH

Pot-Like Compounds Halt Prostate Cancer Growth

Madrid, Spain: The administration of selective cannabinoid agonists halt the proliferation of human prostate cells in vitro (in a Petri dish) and in vivo (in laboratory animals), according to preclinical findings published online this week in the British Journal of Cancer and reported by Reuters News Wire.

Investigators at the University of Alcala School of Medicine in Spain assessed the anti-proliferative and anti-tumor properties of two synthetic CB2 agonists. The agonists, which bind selectively to the CB2 receptors in a manner similar to the active components in cannabis, induced prostate cell death and inhibited tumor cell growth in animals. "This study defines the involvement of CB2-mediated signaling in the in vivo and in vitro growth inhibition of prostate cancer cells, and suggests that CB2 agonists have potential therapeutic interest and deserve to be explored in the management of prostate cancer," authors concluded.

Speaking to Reuters, researchers stressed that their research was still exploratory and that "it absolutely isn't the case that men might be able to fight prostate cancer by smoking cannabis."

Commenting on the study NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, "While I am pleased to see scientists' and the mainstream media's interest in the anti-cancer properties of cannabis, the untold story is that researchers have been well aware of these effects for 35 years. The real question is: 'Why, after three decades and dozens of preclinical trials documenting cannabis' potent anti-cancer abilities, are investigators still replicating these findings in lab rats rather than in humans?'"

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, "Inhibition of tumour prostate PC-3 cell growth by cannabinoids R(+)-Methanandamide and JWH-015: Involvement of CB2," will appear in the British Journal of Cancer.