Author Topic: Weed slows down tumor growth  (Read 7557 times)

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Offline gyeonghwa

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Weed slows down tumor growth
« on: May 02, 2012, 02:31:32 am »
A Harvard study says:

Quote
The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies.

They say this is the first set of experiments to show that the compound, Delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), inhibits EGF-induced growth and migration in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell lines. Lung cancers that over-express EGFR are usually highly aggressive and resistant to chemotherapy.

http://current.com/community/89799784_marijuana-cuts-lung-cancer-tumor-growth-in-half-harvard-study-shows.htm

Well that's helpful I suppose. They could slow the progress of cancer long enough for more conventional treatments to work.
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Offline Witchyjoshy

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2012, 03:36:48 pm »
Inb4 people who are not at risk of cancer using this as their main argument for their right to smoke it recreationally.
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Offline Shane for Wax

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2012, 03:55:10 pm »
If it's lung cancer, smoking it will hardly be a wise decision anyway.

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Offline Shano

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2012, 02:17:14 pm »
If it's lung cancer, smoking it will hardly be a wise decision anyway.
I am not sure why you are saying this. Iirc smoking mj is not a risk factor for lung cancer of any type. And I see no better way of delivering the ingredient to the lungs.
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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2012, 04:59:50 pm »
Has anything ever gone faster when pumped with THC?

And really folks, why does this make weed viable rather than harnessing the THC directly?

Offline Shano

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2012, 05:18:03 pm »
Has anything ever gone faster when pumped with THC?

And really folks, why does this make weed viable rather than harnessing the THC directly?

I am not sure how expensive the extraction would be. Is it easy to synthesize?
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Offline Witchyjoshy

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2012, 06:35:55 pm »
And really folks, why does this make weed viable rather than harnessing the THC directly?

I dunno, why does it?
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Offline Rime

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #7 on: May 04, 2012, 07:39:47 pm »
Well, it can also be made into an oil and ingested which would still be quite effective.  I'm wondering that how would you need to synthesize it so badly you HAVE to smoke it to survive...

While its synthesis from stuff like petrochemicals etc, is likely expensive, I would imagine its extraction from the actual cannabis does not have too much trouble.  There's also this notion that the hemp family is known to be an excellent source of Omega-3 essential fatty acids, regardless of its varietal, which could be just as important in fighting cancer as the THC. 

And what a shame Vene isn't here to demand three separately sourced peer reviewed documents to support my claim. ::)
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Offline Shano

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #8 on: May 04, 2012, 09:52:18 pm »
Why would the oil be effective?

The issues stem from the requirement that some concentration of THC penetrates and is deposited at the right place.

1. Method of delivery is thus important. Any non-inhalation route will necessarily require significantly higher overall dose to achieve that concentration.
2. Moreover it is probable that the concentration itself will be sufficiently high to create a psychoactive effect beyond the tolerable range of an average person. Most probably the first attempt will be to find if a modification of THC can be made that keeps its therapeutic properties but removes the psycho-activity.
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Offline Random Gal

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2012, 10:33:06 pm »
And really folks, why does this make weed viable rather than harnessing the THC directly?

I dunno, why does it?

Because people want an excuse to legalize weed so they can smoke it recreationally.

Offline Osama bin Bambi

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2012, 12:11:47 am »
Inb4 people who are not at risk of cancer using this as their main argument for their right to smoke it recreationally.

> "Yeah, I have lower back pain and hypertension. I might get heart cancer. That's why I smoke... it's for health reasons. You want me to be healthy, don't you?"
> Smokes like five joints a day, has persistent hacking cough, won't see real doctor

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Offline StallChaser

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #11 on: May 05, 2012, 09:19:24 am »
Politics usually prevents any valid science from being done on pot (by that, I mean no study is approved that isn't overtly trying to show it to be a bad thing).  The funny thing is that science, being science, doesn't care about politics, and this sort of thing shows up.  I know of at least one other study that tried to show high lung cancer rates in pot smokers.  The results were nonsmokers and pot smokers having the same rate of lung cancer, people who smoked pot+tobacco a little higher, and tobacco alone a lot higher.  Pot smoke does contain carcinogens, but it also has some cancer-fighting chemicals that cancel them out.  It can also be vaporized or eaten, leaving out the bad stuff (mostly generated by combustion of plant material).  Smoking is the worst form of delivery:  Edibles have it beat in length of effect, and vaporizing is immediate and can be used for nausea where edibles (and pills) are self-defeating.

THC isn't the only active ingredient, there is a whole family of cannabinoids.  Additionally, they can change how the body responds to terpenes (also found in the pot, as well as pretty much every plant in existence), which is why the pharmaceutical approach of isolating and manufacturing a single compound has always failed in replicating the effects of medical marijuana.

The idea of "needing an excuse" to smoke pot is a stupid one, because it implies that there's something morally wrong with it.  As long as the side effects are less severe than the condition being treated, it's a legitimate medical reason.  It would be nice if a non psychoactive variation could be synthesized, because not everyone wants to be high, but the cynic in me would see it being way to expensive for the 99%, while corrupt government officials use it as another excuse to double down on prohibition.

Offline m52nickerson

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #12 on: May 05, 2012, 11:06:09 am »
According to this article the THC was injected into the mice.  So it is not the Devil's Lettuce that is doing it, just its active ingredient.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417193338.htm

Quote
Then, for three weeks, researchers injected standard doses of THC into mice that had been implanted with human lung cancer cells, and found that tumors were reduced in size and weight by about 50 percent in treated animals compared to a control group. There was also about a 60 percent reduction in cancer lesions on the lungs in these mice as well as a significant reduction in protein markers associated with cancer progression, Preet says.
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Offline Rime

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #13 on: May 05, 2012, 11:22:20 am »
Why would the oil be effective?

The issues stem from the requirement that some concentration of THC penetrates and is deposited at the right place.

1. Method of delivery is thus important. Any non-inhalation route will necessarily require significantly higher overall dose to achieve that concentration.
2. Moreover it is probable that the concentration itself will be sufficiently high to create a psychoactive effect beyond the tolerable range of an average person. Most probably the first attempt will be to find if a modification of THC can be made that keeps its therapeutic properties but removes the psycho-activity.

I get it.  If you smoke it, you won't get as high?  I'll reiterate, how common would it be that you're going to die without it? The oil is also quite simple to prepare and doesn't lose all the other health benefits you can obtain from the hemp family of plants.
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Offline Shane for Wax

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Re: Weed slows down tumor growth
« Reply #14 on: May 05, 2012, 02:25:59 pm »
Lung cancer gives decreased lung capacity and lungs don't normally like smoke in them anyways. Thus, you're only hurting yourself by smoking.

If it can be injected, as nickerson's post says, then you don't need to smoke at all and you're just wanting that high. At least be effing honest about it. I can respect being honest but giving bullshit excuses about 'oh the health benefiiiits' is not the way to go and make me sympathetic.

If, on the other hand you vaporize like Stallchaser explain then cool. Good for ya. Do that. But don't kid me or yourself by saying smoking is the best way to get it into your system and to claim the health benefits. Lungs don't like smoke. They never have. And trying to claim otherwise is asinine.

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