这是第2篇报道，这里还还有其他医学院的试验。
Marijuana Compound May Fight Lung
Cancer
From:
Apr 17, 2007
While smoking marijuana is never good for the lungs, the active ingredient in pot may help fight lung
cancer, new research shows.
Harvard University researchers have found that, in both laboratory
and mouse studies, delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cuts tumor growth
in half in common lung
cancer while impeding the cancer’s ability to spread.
The compound “seems to have a suppressive effect on certain lines of cancer cells,” explained Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
According to the researchers, THC fights lung
cancer
by curbing epidermal growth factor (EGF), a molecule that promotes the
growth and spread of particularly aggressive non-small cell lung
cancers. “It seems to go to (EGF) receptor sites on cells and inhibit
growth,” said Horovitz, who was not involved in the study.
The findings are preliminary, however, and other outside experts urged caution.
“It’s an interesting laboratory study (but) you have to have enough
additional animal studies to make sure the effect is reproducible and
to make sure that there are no overt toxic effects,” said Dr. Norman
Edelman, chief medical officer of the American Lung
Association. “It’s a little more than tantalizing because it’s a
compound that we know has been in humans and has not caused major
problems.”
The findings were to be presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Los Angeles.
Lung
cancer is the number one cancer killer in the world. Lung tumors that over-produce the EGF receptor tend to be extra-aggressive and don’t respond well to chemotherapy.
THC is the main active ingredient of Cannabis sativa –marijuana. It has been shown to inhibit tumor growth in cancer, but specific information on its action against lung
cancer has so far been limited.
In the new study, the researchers first showed that two different lung
cancer lines, as well as samples from patient lung tumors, produced the cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2.
Endocannabinoids — cannabinoids produced naturally in the body — are
thought to have an effect on pain, anxiety and inflammation when they
bind to cannabinoid receptors.
Next, the researchers injected standard doses of THC into mice implanted with human lung
cancer
cells. After three weeks of treatment, tumors shrank by about 50
percent in animals treated with THC, compared to those in an untreated
control group, the researchers reported.
The findings may shed light on a question that has been puzzling Horovitz: Why hasn’t there been a spike in lung
cancer in the generation that smoked a lot of marijuana in the 1960s.
“I find it fascinating, wondering if the reasons we’re not seeing this spike is that THC inhibits lung
cancer cells,” he said. “It would be very ironic, although you certainly wouldn’t tell somebody who smoked cigarettes to add marijuana.”
A second set of findings presented at AACR suggested that a
viral-based gene therapy could target both primary and distant tumors,
while ignoring healthy cells.
When injected into 15 mice with prostate cancer, this “smart bomb” therapy eliminated all signs of cancer
— effectively curing the rodents. Researchers at Columbia University,
in New York City, said the therapy also worked in animals with breast cancer and melanomas.
And in a third hopeful trial reported at the meeting, German
researchers at University Children’s Hospital, in Ulm, said they’ve
used measles viruses to treat brain tumors. In mouse experiments, the
virus attached to the tumor from the inside out, the team said.
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发表于 2007-7-11 01:37:47
