Study: Synthetic THC Kills Leukemia Cells

Tubingen, Germany: The administration of FDA-approved synthetic THC (dronabinol) induces death in leukemia cell lines and offers a “low-toxic therapy option” for patients with cancer, according to findings published online in the journal BMC Cancer.

German researchers evaluated the impact of dronabinol on leukemia cells. Investigators reported that synthetic THC displayed “remarkable anti-proliferative as well as pro-apoptopic efficacy … in a broad spectrum of acute leukemia cell lines.” These findings “provide a promising rationale for the clinical use of cannabinoids … in distinct entities of acute leukemia,” they concluded.

Preclinical data dating back over four decades has consistently documented the ability of various cannabinoids to halt the spread of cancerous cells in laboratory settings.

In 2011, the website for the US National Cancer Institute, cancer.gov, publically acknowledged the anti-cancer properties of cannabinoids, posting: “Cannabinoids appear to kill tumor cells but do not affect their non-transformed counterparts and may even protect them from cell death. … In the practice of integrative oncology, the health care provider may recommend medicinal cannabis not only for symptom management but also for its possible direct antitumor effect.” The language was removed from the website a little over a week later.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, ‘Dronabinol has preferential antileukemic activity in acute lymphoblastic and myeloid leukemia with lymphoid differentiation patterns,” appears in BMC Cancer.

Here’s another  Cannabis and Leukemia Study on how cannabis can help fight Leukemia.