Editor's Note: As society and legislators increasingly accept marijuana–and more importantly recognize the potential medical benefits that have really only just begun to be formally researched and documented–we're going to see more and more reputable research organizations dedicating time and money to cannabis research. And the more research we see, the more cannabis will be proven to aid a wide range of diseases and ailments. These new findings (and those already out there–not the least of which is the story of Charlotte Fiji and the Charlotte's Web strain of marijuana)Â are going to make it painfully difficult for those legislators still giving pushback to medical marijuana programs to continue to do so … without looking, well, completely ignorant.Â
Over the past few years, research has revealed that marijuana can both destroy certain cancer cells and reduce the growth of others. Now, a new study in mice has found that when combined with radiation treatment, cannabis can effectively shrink one of the most aggressive types of brain tumors.
In a paper published Friday in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapies, a team of researchers from St. George's University of London outlined the "dramatic reductions" they observed in high-grade glioma masses, a deadly form of brain cancer, when treated with a combination of radiation and two different marijuana compounds, also known as cannabinoids. In many cases, those tumors shrunk to as low as one-tenth the sizes of those in the control group.
"We've shown that cannabinoids could play a role in treating one of the most aggressive cancers in adults," Dr. Wai Liu, one of the study's lead authors, wrote in an op-ed earlier this week. "The results are promising...it could provide a way of breaking through glioma and saving more lives."
