Abstract
In recent years, and even more since its legalization in several jurisdictions, cannabis and the endocannabinoid system have received an increasing amount of interest related to their potential exploitation in clinical settings. Cannabinoids have been suggested and shown to be effective in the treatment of various conditions. In cancer, the endocannabinoid system is altered in numerous types of tumours and can relate to cancer prognosis and disease outcome. Additionally, cannabinoids display anticancer effects in several models by suppressing the proliferation, migration and/or invasion of cancer cells, as well as tumour angiogenesis. However, the therapeutic use of cannabinoids is currently limited to the treatment of symptoms and pain associated with chemotherapy, while their potential use as cytotoxic drugs in chemotherapy still requires validation in patients. Along with cannabinoids, cannabis contains several other compounds that have also been shown to exert anti-tumorigenic actions. The potential anti-cancer effects of cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids, present in cannabis, are explored in this literature review.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1985 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-81 |
| Number of pages | 81 |
| Journal | Cancers |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding: This work was funded by Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute Seed funding and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine Bridge Funding. AMT was supported by NSERC USRA studentship. EGW is supported by a Dalhousie University Department of Pharmacology graduate bursary.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Oncology
- Cancer Research
