Combating tumours with psychoactive drugs

[16 July 2004 - 00h00]

Cannabis to combat cancer? At the Eurocancer congress which was just held in Paris, Pr Stéphane Vignot, cancerologist at Saint-Louis university hospital in Paris, reviewed the possible therapeutic value of cannabis for cancerous cells.

The first research relating to the anti-tumour activity of cannabis dates back to 1975. Which is hardly yesterday! But between that date and 1995, no further research was conducted on the subject. Since then, animal experiments have been carried out. But, as Pr Stéphane Vignot explains, "we are simply at the start of the experimentation as we have had a lot of delays".

Yet this work appears to be promising. "Several studies have shown that the administration of synthetic cannabinoids to rats caused a considerable regression in cancerous tumours. The cannabinoids send apoptotic (in other words programmed cell death - editor) cellular messages by biochemical means involving the cannabinoid receptors". Interesting, but they are still pre-clinical trials, in other words trials on animals. They cannot therefore be directly transposed to humans.

So-called phase I and II research is in progress in Spain at the moment, however. "This is the first clinical study. The researchers are working on patients suffering from brain tumours, injecting natural cannabinoids directly into the tumour. The results will be available within 16 months". Source: Interview with Pr Stéphane Vignot - Eurocancer 29 June - 1 July 2004

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