Cannabis Slows Cervical Cancer In Test Tube

[EDDIEKIRK]

Causes, incidence, and risk factors



Worldwide, cervical cancer is the third most common type of cancer in women. It is much less common in the United States because of the routine use of Pap smears.

Cervical cancers start in the cells on the surface of the cervix. There are two types of cells on the cervix's surface: squamous and columnar. Most cervical cancers are from squamous cells.

Cervical cancer usually develops very slowly. It starts as a precancerous condition called dysplasia. This precancerous condition can be detected by a Pap smear and is 100% treatable. It can take years for precancerous changes to turn into cervical cancer. Most women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer today have not had regular Pap smears or they have not followed up on abnormal Pap smear results.

Almost all cervical cancers are caused by HPV (human papilloma virus). HPV is a common virus that is spread through sexual intercourse. There are many different types of HPV. Some strains lead to cervical cancer. (Other strains may cause genital warts, while others do not cause any problems at all.)

A woman's sexual habits and patterns can increase her risk for cervical cancer. Risky sexual practices include having sex at an early age, having multiple sexual partners, and having multiple partners or partners who participate in high-risk sexual activities.

Risk factors for cervical cancer include:

• Not getting the HPV vaccine
  
  
  
• Poor economic status
  
  
  
• Women whose mothers took the drug DES (diethylstilbestrol) during pregnancy in the early 1960s to prevent miscarriage
  
  
  
• Weakened immune system
  
  
  

Symptoms



Most of the time, early cervical cancer has no symptoms. Symptoms that may occur can include:

• Abnormal vaginal bleeding between periods, after intercourse, or after menopause
  
  
  
• Continuous vaginal discharge, which may be pale, watery, pink, brown, bloody, or foul-smelling
  
  
  
• Periods become heavier and last longer than usual
  
  
  

Cervical cancer may spread to the bladder, intestines, lungs, and liver. Patients with cervical cancer do not usually have problems until the cancer is advanced and has spread. Symptoms of advanced cervical cancer may include:

• Back pain
  
  
  
• Bone pain or fractures
  
  
  
• Fatigue
  
  
  
• Leaking of urine or feces from the vagina
  
  
  
• Leg pain
  
  
  
• Loss of appetite
  
  
  
• Pelvic pain
  
  
  
• Single swollen leg
  
  
  
• Weight loss
  
  
  

Signs and tests



Precancerous changes of the cervix and cervical cancer cannot be seen with the naked eye. Special tests and tools are needed to spot such conditions.

• Pap smears screen for precancers and cancer, but do not make a final diagnosis.
  
  
  
• If abnormal changes are found, the cervix is usually examined under magnification. This is called colposcopy. Pieces of tissue are surgically removed (biopsied) during this procedure and sent to a laboratory for examination.
  
  
  
• Cone biopsy may also be done.
  
  
  

If the woman is diagnosed with cervical cancer, the health care provider will order more tests to determine how far the cancer has spread. This is called staging. Tests may include:

• Chest x-ray
  
  
  
• CT scan of the pelvis
  
  
  
• Cystoscopy
  
  
  
• Intravenous pyelogram (IVP)
  
  
  
• MRI of the pelvis
  
  
  

Treatment



Treatment of cervical cancer depends on:

• The stage of the cancer
  
  
  
• The size and shape of the tumor
  
  
  
• The woman's age and general health
  
  
  
• Her desire to have children in the future
  
  
  

Early cervical cancer can be cured by removing or destroying the precancerous or cancerous tissue. There are various surgical ways to do this without removing the uterus or damaging the cervix, so that a woman can still have children in the future.

Types of surgery for early cervical cancer include:

• Loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) -- uses electricity to remove abnormal tissue
  
  
  
• Cryotherapy -- freezes abnormal cells
  
  
  
• Laser therapy -- uses light to burn abnormal tissue
  
  
  

A hysterectomy (removal of the uterus but not the ovaries) is not often performed for cervical cancer that has not spread. It may be done in women who have repeated LEEP procedures.

Treatment for more advanced cervical cancer may include:

• Radical hysterectomy, which removes the uterus and much of the surrounding tissues, including lymph nodes and the upper part of the vagina.
  
  
  
• Pelvic exenteration, an extreme type of surgery in which all of the organs of the pelvis, including the bladder and rectum, are removed.
  
  
  

Radiation may be used to treat cancer that has spread beyond the pelvis, or cancer that has returned. Radiation therapy is either external or internal.

• Internal radiation therapy uses a device filled with radioactive material, which is placed inside the woman's vagina next to the cervical cancer. The device is removed when she goes home.
  
  
  
• External radiation therapy beams radiation from a large machine onto the body where the cancer is located. It is similar to an x-ray.
  
  
  

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer. Some of the drugs used for cervical cancer chemotherapy include 5-FU, cisplatin, carboplatin, ifosfamide, paclitaxel, and cyclophosphamide. Sometimes radiation and chemotherapy are used before or after surgery.



Support Groups



National Cervical Cancer Coalition - http://www.nccc-online.org/



Expectations (prognosis)



How well the patient does depends on many things, including:

• The type of cancer
  
  
  
• The stage of the disease
  
  
  
• The woman's age and general physical condition
  
  
  
• If the cancer comes back after treatment
  
  
  

Pre-cancerous conditions are completely curable when followed up and treated properly. The chance of being alive in 5 years (5-year survival rate) for cancer that has spread to the inside of the cervix walls but not outside the cervix area is 92%.

The 5-year survival rate falls steadily as the cancer spreads into other areas.

Complications

• Some types of cervical cancer do not respond well to treatment.
  
  
  
• The cancer may come back (recur) after treatment.
  
  
  
• Women who have treatment to save the uterus have a high risk of the cancer coming back (recurrence).
  
  
  
• Surgery and radiation can cause problems with sexual, bowel, and bladder function.
  
  
  

Calling your health care provider



Call your health care provider if you:

• Have not had regular Pap smears
  
  
  
• Have abnormal vaginal bleeding or discharge
  
  
  

Prevention



A vaccine to prevent cervical cancer is now available. In June 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine called Gardasil, which prevents infection against the two types of HPV responsible for most cervical cancer cases.

Studies have shown that the vaccine appears to prevent early-stage cervical cancer and precancerous lesions. Gardasil is the first approved vaccine targeted specifically to prevent any type of cancer.

Practicing safe sex (using condoms) also reduces your risk of HPV and other sexually transmitted diseases. HPV infection causes genital warts. These may be barely visible or several inches wide. If a woman sees warts on her partner's genitals, she should avoid intercourse with that person.

To further reduce the risk of cervical cancer, women should limit their number of sexual partners and avoid partners who participate in high-risk sexual activities.

Getting regular Pap smears can help detect precancerous changes, which can be treated before they turn into cervical cancer. Pap smears effectively spot such changes, but they must be done regularly. Annual pelvic examinations, including a pap smear, should start when a woman becomes sexually active, or by the age of 20 in a nonsexually active woman.

See also: Physical exam frequency

If you smoke, quit. Cigarette smoking is associated with an increased risk of cervical cancer.



References



<ol style="list-style-type: decimal">
[*]Noller KL. Intraepithelial neoplasia of the lower genital tract (cervix, vulva): Etiology, screening, diagnostic techniques, management. In: Katz VL, Lentz GM, Lobo RA, Gershenson DM, eds. Comprehensive Gynecology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2007:chap 28.


[*]National Comprehensive Cancer Network. NCCN Practice Guidelines in Oncology: Cervical Cancer Screening. v.1.2011.


[*]Smith RA, Cokkinides V, Brooks D, Saslow D, Brawley OW. Cancer screening in the United States, 2010: a review of current American Cancer Society guidelines and issues in cancer screening. CA Cancer J Clin. 2010;60:99-119.


</ol>




Review Date: 12/15/2011.

Reviewed by: Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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Cannabis Slows cervical Cancer in Test Tube

Marijuana Ingredients Slow Invasion by Cervical and Lung Cancer Cells

By Daniel J. DeNoon

WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDDec. 26, 2007 -- THC and another marijuana-derived compound slow the spread of cervical and lung cancers, test-tube studies suggest.



The new findings add to the fast-growing number of animal and cell-culture studies showing different anticancer effects for cannabinoids, chemical compounds derived from marijuana.



Cannabinoids, and sometimes marijuana itself, are currently used to lessen the nausea and pain experienced by many cancer patients. The new findings -- yet to be proven in human studies -- suggest that cannabinoids may have a direct anticancer effect.



"Cannabinoids' ... potential therapeutic benefit in the treatment of highly invasive cancers should be addressed in clinical trials," conclude Robert Ramer, PhD, and Burkhard Hinz, PhD, of the University of Rostock, Germany.



Might cannabinoids keep dangerous tumors from spreading throughout the body? Ramer and Hinz set up an experiment in which invasive cervical and lung cancer cells had make their way through a tissue-like gel. Even at very low concentrations, the marijuana compounds THC and methanandamide (MA) significantly slowed the invading cancer cells.



Doses of THC that reduce pain in cancer patients yield blood concentrations much higher than the concentrations needed to inhibit cancer invasion.



"Thus the effects of THC on cell invasion occurred at therapeutically relevant concentrations," Ramer and Hinz note.



The researchers are quick to point out that much more study is needed to find out whether these test-tube results apply to tumor growth in animals and in humans.



Ramer and Hinz report the findings in the Jan. 2, 2008 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

source: http://www.webmd.com...er-in-test-tube



<strong>Cervical Cancer - Radical Trachelectomy
</strong>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVsczkyLdOA

Medicinal Cannabis



Fighting cervical cancer and fibromyalgia, Juliet uses a vaporiser to treat her pain with cannabis.



http://natgeotv.com/.../?cmp=user_post





Arachidonyl ethanolamide induces apoptosis of uterine cervix cancer cells via aberrantly expressed vanilloid receptor-1



Emmanuel Contassot a, Mirna Tenan a, Valrie Schnriger a, Marie-Franoise Pelte b and Pierre-Yves Dietrich a, ,



a Oncology Division, Laboratory of Tumor Immunology, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland b Clinical Pathology Department, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland



Received 9 September 2003. Available online 8 February 2004.









References and further reading may be available for this article. To view references and further reading you must purchase this article.





Abstract

Objective. 9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, the active agent of Cannabis sativa, exhibits well-documented antitumor properties, but little is known about the possible effects mediated by endogenous cannabinoids on human tumors. In the present study, we analyzed the effect of arachidonyl ethanolamide (AEA) on cervical carcinoma (CxCa) cell lines.



Methods. To assess the sensitivity of CxCa cells to AEA, we selected three cell lines that were exposed to increasing doses of AEA with or without antagonists to receptors to AEA. DNA fragmentation and caspase-7 activity were used as apoptosis markers. The exp<b></b>ression of receptors to AEA were analyzed in CxCa cell lines as well as CxCa biopsies.



Results. The major finding was that AEA induced apoptosis of CxCa cell lines via aberrantly expressed vanilloid receptor-1, whereas AEA binding to the classical CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors mediated a protective effect. Furthermore, unexpectedly, a strong exp<b></b>ression of the three forms of AEA receptors was observed in ex vivo CxCa biopsies.



Conclusion. Overall, these data suggest that the specific targeting of VR1 by endogenous cannabinoids or synthetic molecules offers attractive opportunities for the development of novel potent anticancer drugs.



Author Keywords: Author Keywords: Arachidonyl ethanolamide; Cervical cancer; Vanilloid receptor; Apoptosis



source: and more info http://www.sciencedi...3a344307d083fe1





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[EDDIEKIRK]

Cervical cancer is the term for a malignant neoplasm arising from cells originating in the cervix uteri. One of the most common symptoms of cervical cancer is abnormal vaginal bleeding, but in some cases there may be no obvious symptoms until the cancer has progressed to an advanced stage.^[1] Treatment usually consists of surgery (including local excision) in early stages, and chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy in more advanced stages of the disease.

Cancer screening using the Pap smear can identify precancerous and potentially precancerous changes in cervical cells and tissue. Treatment of high-grade changes can prevent the development of cancer in many victims. In developed countries, the widespread use of cervical screening programs has dramatically reduced the incidence of invasive cervical cancer.^[2]

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection appears to be a necessary factor in the development of almost all cases (90+%) of cervical cancer.^[1]^[3] HPV vaccines effective against the two strains of this large family of viruses that currently cause approximately 70% of cases of cervical cancer have been licensed in the U.S, Canada, Australia, and the EU.^[4]^[5] Since the vaccines only cover some of the cancer-causing ("high-risk") types of HPV, women should seek regular Pap smear screening, even after vaccination.^[6]

The cervix is the narrow portion of the uterus where it joins with the top of the vagina. Most cervical cancers are squamous cell carcinomas, arising in the squamous (flattened) epithelial cells that line the cervix. Adenocarcinoma, arising in glandular epithelial cells is the second most common type. Very rarely, cancer can arise in other types of cells in the cervix.

[EDDIEKIRK]

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