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Cannabidiol as potential anticancer drug
Author(s) -
Massi Paola,
Solinas Marta,
Cinquina Valentina,
Parolaro Daniela
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
british journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.216
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1365-2125
pISSN - 0306-5251
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2012.04298.x
Subject(s) - cannabidiol , cannabinoid , endocannabinoid system , pharmacology , cannabinoid receptor , synthetic cannabinoids , drug , chemistry , medicine , cannabis , receptor , agonist , biochemistry , psychiatry
Over the past years, several lines of evidence support an antitumourigenic effect of cannabinoids including Δ 9 ‐tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ 9 ‐THC), synthetic agonists, endocannabinoids and endocannabinoid transport or degradation inhibitors. Indeed, cannabinoids possess anti‐proliferative and pro‐apoptotic effects and they are known to interfere with tumour neovascularization, cancer cell migration, adhesion, invasion and metastasization. However, the clinical use of Δ 9 ‐THC and additional cannabinoid agonists is often limited by their unwanted psychoactive side effects, and for this reason interest in non‐psychoactive cannabinoid compounds with structural affinity for Δ 9 ‐THC, such as cannabidiol (CBD), has substantially increased in recent years. The present review will focus on the efficacy of CBD in the modulation of different steps of tumourigenesis in several types of cancer and highlights the importance of exploring CBD/CBD analogues as alternative therapeutic agents.