Study: CBD May Reduce Pain, Slow Disease In Breast Cancer Patients
(Photo: nextnature.net)
A new study suggests that a compound in marijuana could help manage pain as well as slow disease progression in patients undergoing breast cancer treatment.
While cannabidiol (CBD) has shown anti-cancer effects in previous studies, recent research from Temple University’s School of Pharmacy in Philadelphia and the California Pacific Medical Center points to a more comprehensive role of CBD in cancer therapy.
The study was co-authored by Dr. Sean McAllister, who was also one of the first scientists to demonstrate the ability of CBD to kill breast cancer cells and slow tumor growth. He explains that the latest findings show that CBD may not only slow cancer, but also prevent the nerve damage (neuropathy) and related pain caused by traditional chemotherapy drugs.
“It suggests that in patients CBD could treat neuropathies induced by first-line agents while also inhibiting cancer progression.”
Published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, the researchers carried out a number of experiments involving cell culture and animal models.
Treatment with CBD was able to protect mice against nerve damage caused by the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel, without noticeable side-effects. What’s more, combining CBD and paclitaxel seemed to produce a greater anti-cancer effect than either treatment alone.
According to the team, there is currently no treatment considered to be effective at reversing chemotherapy-induced pain. Overwhelming pain, especially during late stages of cancer, can sometimes lead patients to stop chemotherapy altogether.
As for CBD’s potential to fight cancer, Dr. McAllister plans to begin the first human trial involving CBD as a treatment for aggressive breast cancer in the next 12 months.
The study was published ahead of print and no sources of funding were reported
