01-13-2017, 10:41 AM
Cannabis Use For Pediatric Cancers
By <span><a data-ipb="nomediaparse" href="http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/author/bgoldstein/" title="Posts by Bonni Goldstein, M.D.">Bonni Goldstein, M.D.</a> </span> on <span> </span>
<span>January 13th, 2017</span>
There is a tremendous amount of interest in the use of cannabis to treat cancer. Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have investigated the antitumor properties of cannabinoids with promising results. Unfortunately, we are lacking critical human research that answers the questions of which specific cancers respond to cannabis, which cannabinoids to use, what dose to use and what duration of treatment is needed to achieve survivorship.
By <span><a data-ipb="nomediaparse" href="http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/author/bgoldstein/" title="Posts by Bonni Goldstein, M.D.">Bonni Goldstein, M.D.</a> </span> on <span> </span>
<span>January 13th, 2017</span>
There is a tremendous amount of interest in the use of cannabis to treat cancer. Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have investigated the antitumor properties of cannabinoids with promising results. Unfortunately, we are lacking critical human research that answers the questions of which specific cancers respond to cannabis, which cannabinoids to use, what dose to use and what duration of treatment is needed to achieve survivorship.
As a pediatrician who also specializes in <a data-ipb="nomediaparse" href="https://www.amazon.com/Cannabis-Revealed-misunderstood-everything-epilepsy/dp/0998141305">medical cannabis treatment</a>, I am often asked to see children who are suffering with advanced cancers. Parents seek cannabis medicine to help their children with relief of symptoms from the adverse side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. In some cases, having been told the cancer treatment is not working, parents are desperate to find a cure. I teach parents what we know and what we dont know about cannabis use in cancer patients and in children, knowing that they must have the data to make an informed decision.
Cannabinoids have been shown in animal studies to inhibit tumor growth, cause cancer cells to commit suicide, inhibit metastasis and inhibit angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels). There is only one study in humans that used THC in nine patients with unresponsive glioblastoma multiforme. Human trials are prohibited in the US due to the Schedule I designation of cannabis.
Multiple animal studies tell us that cannabinoids have antiproliferative effects in various tumor cell lines including breast, prostate, skin, neural, bone, and thyroid. Lymphoma and leukemia cells have also responded to cannabinoids in the lab. Additionally cannabinoids have also been shown to enhance effects of certain chemotherapeutic agents.This growing evidence has triggered the use of cannabis to treat cancer in states with medical cannabis laws.
Although most reports of cancer cures are anecdotal, a case report from Canada of a 14-year-old girl with an extremely aggressive form of leukemia successfully documented a dose response to cannabis oil. Chemotherapy, radiation and bone marrow transplant were unsuccessful and physicians determined there was no further treatment available. The patients parents began treating her with untested concentrated <a data-ipb="nomediaparse" href="http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2017/01/can-cannabis-oil-cure-herpes-simplex-viruses/">cannabis oil</a>. The patient started treatment with a blast cell count (leukemia cells) of 194,000 (there should be none). By Day 5 of the oil, her blast cell count grew to a dangerously high 374,000, however with continued administration of the oil, by Day 15 her blast cell count was down to 61,000. Additionally, the patient required less painkillers and had increased alertness. The lowest blast cell count noted was 300 on Day 39. Ultimately, the child succumbed to a bowel perforation that resulted from her severely debilitated health after 34 months of chemotherapy and radiation. During oil treatment, it was learned that blast cells increased if the oil was not taken three times/day or if a new batch was started, suggesting that longer dosing intervals and lower potency oil were less effective. This patient was not on other treatment while using cannabis and the blast cell count responded to adjustments in dosing frequency and dose potency. ....
<a data-ipb="nomediaparse" href="http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2017/01/cannabis-use-for-pediatric-cancers/">http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2017/01/cannabis-use-for-pediatric-cancers/</a>