Cannabis vaporization or eating would be a healthy option for cardiac patients - considering that smoking any combustible increases blood CO and CO2 concentrations, and lowers O2 availability.

News-Medical in Medical Study News

Published: Sunday, 15-Aug-2004

Cannabinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, restrict the sprouting of blood vessels to brain tumors by inhibiting the expression of genes needed for the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

According to a new study published in the August 15, 2004 issue of the journal Cancer Research, administration of cannabinoids significantly lowered VEGF activity in laboratory mice and two patients with late-stage glioblastoma.

"Blockade of the VEGF pathway constitutes one of the most promising antitumoral approaches currently available," said Manuel Guzmán, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, with the Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, and the study's principal investigator.

"The present findings provide a novel pharmacological target for cannabinoid-based therapies."

Glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of glioma, strikes more than 7,000 Americans each year and is considered one of the most malignant and deadliest forms of cancer, generally resulting in death within one to two years following diagnosis.

The disease is usually treated with surgery, followed by conventional radiation alone or in combination with chemotherapy. However, the main tumor often evades total destruction, surviving and growing again, eventually killing the patient. For this reason, researchers are actively seeking other therapeutic strategies, some of which might be considered novel.

In this study, the investigators chose to work with cannabinoids which, in previous studies, have been shown to inhibit the growth of blood vessels, or angiogenesis, in laboratory mice. However, little was known about the specific mechanisms by which cannabinoids impair angiogenesis, or whether the chemical might do the same in human tumors.

To answer the first part of the question, the scientists induced gliomas in mice, which were subsequently inoculated with cannabinoids. Using DNA array analysis, the team examined 267 genes associated with the growth of blood vessels in tumors and found that cannabinoids lowered the expression of several genes related to the VEGF pathway, critical for angiogenesis.

The researchers also discovered that cannabinoids apparently worked by increasing the activity of ceramide, a lipid mediator of apoptosis, resulting in the functional inhibition of cells needed for VEGF production. The ability of cannabinoids to alter VEGF production was significantly stifled following the introduction of a ceramide inhibitor.

"As far as we know, this is the first report showing that ceramide depresses VEGF pathway by interfering with VEGF production," according to Guzmán.

To answer the second part of the question relating to clinical tests, the scientists obtained tumor biopsies from two patients with glioblastomas who had failed standard therapy, including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The biopsied tissue was analyzed before and after local injection of a cannabinoid.

"In both patients, VEGF levels in tumor extracts were lower after cannabinoid inoculation," said Guzmán.

The results, he added, suggest a potential new approach toward the treatment of these otherwise intractable brain tumors.

"It is essential to develop new therapeutic strategies for the management of glioblastoma multiforme," the scientists wrote, "which will most likely require a combination of therapies to obtain significant clinical results."

Did you have caffeine in the last few hours? Did you have alcohol in the last week, there is no telling how many brain cells you killed if you did. Did you consider the possibility of becoming permanently disabled, maybe even dying, because you decided to drive your automobile to the market instead of walking- but then again, you could have been run down by a wreckless driver. And experts say that walking is one of the best exercises one can do. Eating a healthy diet is key to living longer and healthier- but take a look at the number of fast food resturants in your town- have you been there lately?

Face it, something, somewhere, somehow- is GOING to kill you. You have no choice in the matter, no matter how hard you try to avoid it- it is inevitably going to happen. It will certainly be tragic and sad. I just don't want to be there when it happens to me.

By James Hamilton

August 15, 2004

Cannabis chemicals may provide a new way of treating deadly brain cancer.

Scientists have shown that cannabinoids – the chemicals responsible for the drug’s “high” – deter the growth of blood vessels which feed the tumour.

They appear to prevent genes making a protein called VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) that stimulates the sprouting of blood vessels.

Cutting off tumours’ blood supply is one of the latest anti-cancer strategies being explored by scientists. In studies cannabinoids significantly reduced the activity of VEGF in laboratory mice.

They also lowered VEGF levels in tumour tissue samples taken from two patients with glioblastoma multiforme, the most lethal brain tumour type.

About 4400 new cases of brain tumour are diagnosed in the UK each year. A small percentage of these are grade four gliomas, the most aggressive and dangerous brain tumours.

Only about 6% of people diagnosed with these high- grade cancers live for more than three years. The disease is normally treated with surgery, followed by radiotherapy and possibly chemotherapy. But the main tumour often evades complete destruction and grows again to kill the patient.

Cannabinoids had previously been shown to inhibit the growth of blood vessels in mice. But the mechanism involved remained a mystery and it was not known if the same effect occurred in humans.

In the new Spanish-led study, cannabinoids were injected into mice with gliomas. DNA analysis was then carried out on 267 genes associated with the growth of tumour blood vessels. It showed that the cannabis compounds reduced the activity of several genes involved in VEGF production.

Professor Manuel Guzman, from Complutense University in Madrid, said: “In both patients, VEGF levels in tumour extracts were lower after cannabinoid inoculation.”

http://www.sundayherald.com/44079