A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Biomedicines has found that cannabis use may be associated with a reduced prevalence of prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the 2nd most common cancer with 1.4 million diagnoses per year, a figure predicted to rise to 2.9 million by 2040. Despite these figures, little is known about how to prevent prostate cancer.
Using data from a large national survey, researchers affiliated with the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Florida analysed responses from 2503 males aged over 50. The cohort consisted of almost 90% non-Hispanic white males, and all had been diagnosed with prostate cancer at least once. They answered questions about their cannabis use and were put into three groups by the researchers – current cannabis use, past cannabis use, and no cannabis use.
The results showed the group that had used cannabis in the past, and the group currently using cannabis had significantly lower rates of prostate cancer than the group who had never used cannabis.
“In this cross-sectional study of 2503 participants from the USA using the NSDUH survey (2002 to 2020), we observed that individuals who were former marijuana users had a significantly lower rate of self-reports of having prostate cancer (PC),” The study says. “Additionally, the current marijuana users also trended towards lower self-reports of PC. The lack of statistical significance in the analysis of current marijuana users is likely due to a low sample size of the groups with and without PC (i.e., 46 and 99, respectively).
“Consistent with well-established risk factors, our analyses also found that older participants (≥65 years) and non-Hispanic black participants had a higher prevalence of PC, providing credibility to our overall study.”
The patterns observed in the full data set were consistent when results were divided into subgroups, lending further confidence to the results.
“Among participants aged greater than 65 years, former marijuana use was linked to reduced self-reports of PC compared to never using. Similarly, among non-Hispanic whites exclusively, former marijuana use was associated with lower rates of self-reported PC compared to never use.”
The researchers explained how these results help validate previous studies showing cannabis as a potential tool to fight cancer cells in humans.
“Another strength of our findings is biological support for the anti-cancer effects of the constituents of marijuana. Cannabinoids have been proposed as a regulator for cancer cell growth, differentiation, invasion, and metastasis in multiple mechanisms. Cannabinoid receptors regulate the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) pathway, which involves cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Cannabinoids also stimulate the p8-regulated pathway, which induces autophagy and blocks the activation of the VEGF pathway. Several pre-clinical studies have demonstrated the anti-tumor effect of cannabinoids in PC. Roberto et al. showed WIN 55,212-2, a synthetic cannabinoid, inhibits PC cell growth and proliferation, spread, and invasion. Furthermore, in the PCcell line models, it has also been documented to induce cell cycle arrest and promote apoptosis.”
The team reiterate in their conclusion the need for more research to be conducted to strengthen the existing body of evidence showing cannabis as a viable prostate cancer treatment.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the association between marijuana use and PC in a large cohort, using a national survey focused on the at-risk group of the older male population. Our findings can serve as hypothesis-generating for future prospective studies to further evaluate the role of cannabinoids (using medical marijuana) in PC prevention.”
This story first appeared on leafie, view here
Author: Kevin Dinneen
