Novel hexahydrocannabinol analogs as potential anti-cancer agents inhibit cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis.

“Both natural and synthetic cannabinoids have been shown to suppress the growth of tumor cells in culture and in animal models by affecting key signaling pathways including angiogenesis, a pivotal step in tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis.

In our search for cannabinoid-like anticancer agents devoid of psychoactive side effects, we synthesized and evaluated the anti-angiogenic effects of a novel series of hexahydrocannabinol analogs.

…two analogs LYR-7 [(9S)-3,6,6,9-tetramethyl-6a,7,8,9,10,10a-hexahydro-6H-benzo[c]chromen-1-ol] and LYR-8 [(1-((9S)-1-hydroxy-6,6,9-trimethyl-6a,7,8,9,10,10a-hexahydro-6H-benzo[c]chromen-2-yl)ethanone)]…

…these results suggest that novel synthetic hexahydrocannabinol analogs, LYR-7 and LYR-8, inhibit tumor growth by targeting VEGF-mediated angiogenesis signaling in endothelial cells and suppressing VEGF production and cancer cell growth.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20950604

 

Anti-tumor activity of the novel hexahydrocannabinol analog LYR-8 in Human colorectal tumor xenograft is mediated through the inhibition of Akt and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α activation.

“Cannabinoid compounds have been shown to exert anti-tumor effects by affecting angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis.

 

In the present study, we examined the action mechanism by which a novel hexahydrocannabinol analog, exerts anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor activity in human cancer xenografts.

These results indicate a novel function of cannabinoid-like compound as an anti-tumor agent.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22687485