Rimonabant Kills Colon Cancer Stem Cells without Inducing Toxicity in Normal Colon Organoids

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“Colorectal cancer (CRC), like other tumor types, is a highly heterogeneous disease. Within the tumor bulk, intra-tumoral heterogeneity is also ascribable to Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) subpopulation, characterized by high chemoresistance and the unique ability to retain tumorigenic potential, thus associated to tumor recurrence. High dynamic plasticity of CSCs, makes the development of winning therapeutic strategies even more complex to completely eradicate tumor fuel.

Rimonabant, originally synthesized as antagonist/inverse agonist of Cannabinoid Receptor 1, is able to inactivate Wnt signaling, both in vitro and in vivo, in CRC models, through inhibition of p300-histone acetyltransferase activity. Since Wnt/β-Catenin pathway is the main player underlying CSCs dynamic, this finding candidates Rimonabant as potential modulator of cancer stemness, in CRC.

Overall, results from this work provided new insights on anti-tumor efficacy of Rimonabant, strongly suggesting that it could be a novel lead compound for CRC treatment.

 Anti-tumor action of cannabinoids in CRC was strongly supported by several authors.
The Endocannabinoid (EC) system role in the progression of CRC has been analyzed in vivo in the mouse model of azoxymethane-induced colon carcinogenesis, where cannabinoids-mediated reduction of precancerous lesions in the mouse colon was found.
In CRC cells, agonists and antagonists of both cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, showed anti-tumor action through induction of cell death with different mechanisms ranging from apoptosis to mitotic catastrophe”

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