Ian Edwin Cock
Environmental Futures Research Institute, Nathan Campus, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Rd, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland 4111, Australia.
School of Natural Sciences, Nathan Campus, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Rd, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland 4111, Australia.
Pharmacognosy Communications,2018,8,1,54-55.
DOI: 10.5530/pc.2018.1.10
Published: January-2018
Type: Janus Corner
ABSTRACT
Cannabis sativa is a plant rich in bioactive secondary compounds including terpenoids, flavonoids and a diversity of cannabanoids. Whilst C. sativa is best known for its psychotropic effects, it also has long been used in folk medicine for a wide variety of therapeutic purposes. However, the anticancer effects of this plant remain relatively unexplored. A recent study has highlighted the potential of C. sativa and isolated cannabinoids against a large panel of cancer cells. Interestingly, the cannabinoids acted via cannabinoid receptors as well as via nonspecific pathways to induce apoptosis in cancer cells, whilst at the same time protecting normal cells.1 Notably, the cannabinoids also displayed potent anticancer activity against tumours which were highly resistant to conventional chemotherapies. Furthermore, several studies have also reported that cannabinoids can function as “sensitisers”, increasing the efficacy of some conventional cancer therapies. Read more…