US GA: The People's Pharmacy: Can Medical Marijuana Be Used To Fight Cancer?

8/31/2010

THE PEOPLE'S PHARMACY: CAN MEDICAL MARIJUANA BE USED TO FIGHT CANCER?

The People's Pharmacy: Can medical marijuana be used to fight cancer?

I would like you to know about medical marijuana for cancer. In her late 30s, my wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, stage 4a. It was a 6 centimeter tumor that had grown around the hepatic artery and portal vein.

At first I thought marijuana was just for nausea caused by her chemo, but then I found a study in the journal Cancer Research ( July 1, 2006 ). It showed that cannabinoids specifically fight pancreatic tumor cells.

I changed her diet and started her on a regimen, and she now is cancer-free. The regimen is being studied at the University of Wisconsin. I hope others can benefit from medical marijuana.

For years, marijuana research was suspected of being a way to rationalize people getting high. But as a recent article in Science News points out, scientists now are starting to take it seriously ( June 19 ). The article you cite demonstrates that compounds from marijuana make pancreatic tumor cells commit suicide.

Other cancer researchers have followed up with studies on its effectiveness against a range of tumors in test tubes, including breast, colon, glioblastoma brain tumors and lymphoma, a blood cancer. None is yet in a clinical trial, but this will be an interesting field to watch. We are delighted your wife had such a good response to such a difficult-to-treat cancer.

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