

“Gliobalstoma multiforme (GBM) or grade 4 astrocytoma is the most malignant form of primary brain tumor. Treatment of glioblastoma is difficult despite of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Patients with glioblastoma survive for less than 12 months. Considering to biology function of glioblastoma, researchers have recently offered new therapeutic approaches such as cannabinoid therapy for glioblastoma. Cannabinoids are active compounds of Cannabis sativa that operate in the body similar to endogenous canabinoids –the endocannabinoids- through cell surface receptors. It is interesting that cannabinoids could exert a wide spectrum from antiproliferative effects in condition of the cell culture, animal models of glioblastoma and clinical trials. As a result, Cannabinoids seem to modulate intracellular signaling pathways and the endoplasmic reticulum stress response in glioma cells. Those play antitumoral effects through apoptosis induction and inhibition of glioblastoma angiogenesis. The goal of this study was to discuss cannabinoid therapy and also what cellular mechanisms are involved in the tumoricidal effect of the cannabinoids. In this review article, we will focus on cannabinoids, their receptor dependent functional roles against glioblastoma acccording to growth, angiogenesis, metastasis, and future purposes in exploring new possible therapeutic opportunities.” http://journals.sbmu.ac.ir/Neuroscience/article/view/13655]]>
“Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant brain tumor and one of the deadliest types of solid cancer overall. Despite aggressive therapeutic approaches consisting of maximum safe surgical resection and radio-chemotherapy, more than 95% of GBM patients die within 5 years after diagnosis. Thus, there is still an urgent need to develop novel therapeutic strategies against this disease. Accumulating evidence indicates that cannabinoids have potent anti-tumor functions and might be used successfully in the treatment of GBM. This review article summarizes the latest findings on the molecular effects of cannabinoids on GBM, both in vitro and in (pre-) clinical studies in animal models and patients. The therapeutic effect of cannabinoids is based on reduction of tumor growth via inhibition of tumor proliferation and angiogenesis but also via induction of tumor cell death. Additionally, cannabinoids were shown to inhibit the invasiveness and the stem cell-like properties of GBM tumors. Recent phase II clinical trials indicated positive results regarding the survival of GBM patients upon cannabinoid treatment. Apart from a direct killing effect on tumor cells, cannabinoids can also induce cell cycle arrest thereby inhibiting tumor cell proliferation. In conclusion, cannabinoids show promising anti-neoplastic functions in GBM by targeting multiple cancer hallmarks such as resistance to programmed cell death, neoangiogenesis, tissue invasion or stem cell-induced replicative immortality. The effects of cannabinoids can be potentially enhanced by combination of different cannabinoids with each other or with chemotherapeutic agents. This requires, however, a detailed understanding of cannabinoid-induced molecular mechanisms and pharmacological effects. Ultimately, these findings might foster the development of improved therapeutic strategies against GBM and, perhaps, other diseases of the nervous system as well.” https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2018.00159/full “Accumulating evidence indicates that cannabinoids have potent anti-tumor functions and might be used successfully in the treatment of GBM.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29867351]]>
“Numerous physical, psychological, and emotional benefits have been attributed to marijuana since its first reported use in 2,600 BC in a Chinese pharmacopoeia. The phytocannabinoids, cannabidiol (CBD), and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) are the most studied extracts from cannabis sativa subspecies hemp and marijuana. CBD and Δ9-THC interact uniquely with the endocannabinoid system (ECS). Through direct and indirect actions, intrinsic endocannabinoids and plant-based phytocannabinoids modulate and influence a variety of physiological systems influenced by the ECS.
“In the last decades, the endocannabinoid system has attracted a great interest in medicine and cancer disease is probably one of its most promising therapeutic areas.
On the one hand, endocannabinoid system expression has been found altered in numerous types of tumours compared to healthy tissue, and this aberrant expression has been related to cancer prognosis and disease outcome, suggesting a role of this system in tumour growth and progression that depends on cancer type.
On the other hand, it has been reported that cannabinoids exert an anticancer activity by inhibiting the proliferation, migration and/or invasion of cancer cells; and also tumour angiogenesis.
The endocannabinoid system may be considered as a new therapeutic target, although further studies to fully establish the effect of cannabinoids on tumour progression remain necessary.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29663308

“Funded by the National Institutes of Health to find evidence that marijuana damages the immune system, the study found instead that THC slowed the growth of 3 kinds of cancer in mice—lung and breast cancer, and a virus-induced leukemia. The US Drug Enforcement Agency quickly shut down the Virginia study and all further cannabis/tumor research even though the researchers demonstrated remarkable antitumor effects.”


“The endocannabinoid system plays an important role in the regulation of physiological and pathological conditions, including inflammation and cancer.
Hypoxia is a fundamental phenomenon for the establishment and maintenance of the microenvironments in various physiological and pathological conditions. However, the influence of hypoxia on the endocannabinoid system is not fully understood. In the present study, we investigated the effects of hypoxia on the endocannabinoid system in malignant brain tumors.
Although cannabinoid receptor (CB) engagement induces cell death in U-87 MG cells in normoxic conditions, CB agonist-induced death was attenuated in hypoxic conditions. These results suggest that hypoxia modifies the endocannabinoid system in glioblastoma cells.
Hypoxia-induced inhibition of the endocannabinoid system may aid the development of glioblastoma.”

“Epilepsy, commonly encountered by patients with brain tumors, is often refractory to standard therapies. Our aim was to examine the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical grade cannabidiol (CBD; Epidiolex, GW Pharmaceuticals) in those patients with epilepsy with concomitant tumors enrolled in The University of Alabama at Birmingham CBD Program (NCT02700412 and NCT02695537). Of the three patients with refractory seizures and a history of a primary brain tumor, two had improvement in seizure frequency and all three had improvement in seizure severity. These pilot results suggest that CBD should be further studied for the treatment of brain tumor-related epilepsy.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29063814
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13554794.2017.1391294?journalCode=nncs20