In a lab at the University of Nottingham in England, brain-cancer specialist Richard Grundy is growing cells from children’s brain tumours to see if cannabidiol – a compound in marijuana – can kill them.
Brain-tumour cells rarely thrive outside the body, though, so he’ll be lucky if half a dozen cell clusters survive long enough to study the hunch. Even if the compound snuffs out cancer cells in the lab, there’s no guarantee it would do the same in humans. “But,” he said, “one has to start somewhere.”
That sums up the current stage of research on cannabis and cancer – it’s at the start. Compelling stories of patient recoveries, combined with laboratory evidence of possible cancer-fighting effects, have spurred researchers worldwide to put cannabis to the test. So far, scientists have observed anti-tumour activity in cells cultured in Petri dishes or grafted onto mice. But mice and people are different beasts. Plenty of experimental cancer therapies have shown promise in early studies – such as dichloroacetic acid (DCA) – only to fail in human trials.
Adriana Barton – Globe and Mail – October 19, 2017.
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