Study: THC treatments help prevent colon cancer

A new study from the University of South Carolina has concluded that a treatment with THC tested on mice helps prevent colon cancer by suppressing inflammation.

Published last month in iScience, the study shows that mice given both THC and a carcinogenic chemical were free of cancerous tumors. This differed from the control group, which received no THC.

«The fact that we were able to show that THC treatment prevents inflammation in the colon and at the same time inhibits the development of colon cancer supports the idea that inflammation and colon cancer are closely linked.», explains researcher Prakash Nagarkatti.

Prakash Nagarkatti also explains that THC or other anti-inflammatory agents could be beneficial for patients with a higher risk of developing colon cancer.

The study shows that THC acts through CB2 receptors, which are mainly expressed on immune cells and whose activation does not trigger psychoactivity. Mitzi Nagarkatti calls this exciting because it «suggests that compounds that activate CB2 and cause no psychoactive effects may be beneficial in preventing IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) and colon cancer».

These new findings could prove significant given that IBD patients, which include conditions such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, which result from uncontrolled inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, run a higher risk of developing colorectal cancer.

Worldwide, the incidence of IBD is on the rise. «In fact, the risk of colon and rectal cancer is increasing at an alarming rate in young and middle-aged adults in the United States, and the cause remains unknown,» adds the university release.

The researchers note that more clinical trials and research are needed.

A study published in 2016 noted that «epidemiological data and human therapy studies reveal a possible role for cannabinoids in the symptomatic treatment of IBD, although it remains to be determined in human populations whether cannabinoids have therapeutic anti-inflammatory effects in IBD or simply mask the many incapacitating symptoms.»