A study by researchers at the Augusta University School of Medicine, Georgia, USA, found that cannabidiol (CBD), one of the active ingredients in marijuana, was able to reduce, in mice, the size of a highly aggressive brain tumor and lethal. After inhaling the compound, the animals began to produce fewer substances that favor the growth of glioblastoma.

To simulate brain cancer in mice, the researchers used modified human glioblastoma cells (adapted for animals), creating what is called “orthotopic glioblastoma”, the most realistic possible model for the tumor, produced artificially outside the human body.

After eight days, the disease was already active and aggressively in the animals’ brains. On the ninth day, the team of researchers started the treatment with daily doses of inhaled cannabidiol, while some animals received a placebo, to control the work. The experiment lasted seven days and the study was published in the specialized journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.

Scientists observed a significant decrease in tumor size in imaging tests done in mice that inhaled cannabidiol, not seen in animals that ingested a placebo.

Currently, the treatment of glioblastoma-type brain cancer is surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy. However, the results are usually not satisfactory, as this type of tumor is resistant to drugs.

The scientists’ idea is to use cannabidiol — if its beneficial effects are proven in further studies — in conjunction with the treatment already used in people diagnosed with glioblastoma.

Source: Cenarium Magazine