Marijuana Compound Could Beat Back Brain Cancer.

MONDAY, Jan. 11 -- Preliminary research suggests that a combination of compounds in marijuana could help fight off a particularly deadly form of brain cancer. But the findings shouldn't send patients rushing to buy pot: the levels used in the research appear to be too high to obtain through smoking. And there's no sign yet that the approach works in laboratory animals, let alone people. Still, the finding does suggest that more than one compound in marijuana might boost cancer treatment, said study author Sean McAllister, an associate scientist at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco. "Combination therapies might be more appropriate," McAllister said.

Researchers have long studied the compounds in marijuana known as cannabinoids, which are thought to hold possible health benefits. One, known as THC, is well known for its role in making people high when they smoke or eat pot. Researchers have been testing it as a treatment for the brain tumors known as glioblastomas. In the new study, researchers tested THC and cannabidiol, another compound from marijuana, on brain cancer cells. The findings appear in the January issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. The study authors found that the combination treatment seemed to work better at killing the cancerous cells and preventing them from growing back. The prognosis for people with the condition is grim because tumors spread throughout the brain. It can be impossible for treatments to remove the entire tumor, Fisher said.

Green Man: I keep telling people that marijuana is a miracle drug/herb and they keep coming up with more and more evidence. Is it any wonder that it has been used by shamans and others for medical benefits for thousands of years? It also shows the power of plants and how stupid it is to destroy all of our old growth forests and rain forests. Who knows how many other miracle plants are out there? There could be a cure for cancer, cure for AIDS and/or many other diseases and conditions. I've seen many shows on television where doctors go deep into the Amazon to learn medicine from the ethnic groups that live in those forests. They keep finding that those people have a full-blown pharmacy in those plants and trees. I much rather trust a natural plant that some artificially created pill made from dozens of chemically altered ingredients.

~The Green Man has Spoken~