Harvard study takes on pancreatic cancer.
Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced in a study published in Frontiers in Oncology that cannabis flavonoids may have “significant therapy potential” in treating pancreatic cancer.
The group decided to focus on pancreatic cancer because it is so difficult to treat. They wrote that pancreatic cancer comes with a “five-year survival rate for patients at a dismal 8 percent.” One of the key factors in this is that pancreatic cancer creates an immunosuppressive tumor that develops a resistance to treatment. Using cannabis flavonoids, the researchers created a drug called FBL-03G. This drug, when injected into mice and combined with radiotherapy, slowed cell growth of certain types of cancer. The drug also led to “significant increase in survival for animals with pancreatic cancer compared to control cohorts.”
The findings by the Harvard researchers add to a growing list of studies showing there is potential for marijuana in battling at least the spread of cancer. A recent study out of India reviewed the literature from studies around the world. Among their findings were studies that showed evidence cannabis can slow cancer tumor growth and that one CBD compound showed potential in stopping the spread of certain types of breast cancer.