How can cannabis be used to help chemotherapy patients? This is what a recent study published in Pharmacology & Therapeutics hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how cannabinoids could be used to decrease the side effects in chemotherapy patients. This study has the potential to help researchers, medical professionals, legislators, and the public better understand the benefits of cannabis for cancer treatment and the steps that can be taken to further implement them.
For the study, the researchers conducted a literature review of past preclinical and clinical studies regarding the use of cannabinoids on tumor-killing treatments and chemotherapy, with the latter specifically combating chemotherapy side effects. The team noted how past studies of simultaneously using cannabinoids with chemotherapy is abundant, this data still requires more in-depth analysis to better understand the medical results. Additionally, the team also noted how cannabinoids are often used to treat chemotherapy side effects, including nausea and vomiting.
The study concludes, “The interactions between cannabinoids and chemotherapeutics constitute a complex subject with many yet unknown variables. There are two important therapy-relevant aspects of the interaction between cannabinoids and chemotherapeutic agents that could potentially benefit cancer patients: firstly, the systemic potentiation of chemotherapeutics by cannabinoids, primarily leading to an extension of life by overcoming therapy resistance and secondly, the reduction of chemotherapy-induced side effects.”
As this study points out, there is a myriad of past research regarding cannabis and cancer, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention often having to step in and alleviate questions and concerns regarding the impacts of cannabis on cancer treatment. Therefore, this most recent study helps to further alleviate concerns that medical professionals, patients, and the public might have on using cannabis during chemotherapy or treatment.
What new connections between cannabis and chemotherapy will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Marijuana Moment, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
