Could Cannabidiol Help Mesothelioma Patients?

It’s long been understood that marijuana and some components of the plant can assist cancer patients in tolerating pain and dealing with treatment side effects such as nausea and vomiting, but a group of researchers in London are suggesting that cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound found in marijuana, may just help lead towards a cure or – at the least – an extension of life for victims of aggressive cancers, perhaps including mesothelioma.

Scientists from Queen Mary University in London recently completed a study using laboratory rats with pancreatic cancer, treating them with a combination of cannabidiol and a standard chemotherapy regimen.

Survival rates for the animals tripled with the use of the combination therapy and there have been suggestions that the combo might work for other hard-to-treat cancers, such as mesothelioma.

Indeed, this new research suggests that the compound cannabidiol may possess some anti-cancer properties as well, though more research will be necessary, report the study authors in the journal, Oncogene.

Lead researcher Marco Falasca elaborated: “Cannabidiol is already approved for use in clinics [in the UK], which means we can quickly go on to test this in human clinical trials.”

Unfortunately, cannabidiol is still an illegal substance in the United States though there is hope that its status will change somewhere in the near future.

The FDA recently approved an epilepsy drug that contains cannabidiol and it is likely that more pharmaceutical companies will begin to consider cannabidiol as an ingredient when possible, especially since it has demonstrated healing properties for issues such as stroke recovery and migraines.

In the meantime, American researchers remain inspired by the results of the UK-based study and will continue to watch as the clinical trials move towards including human cancer patients in upcoming studies.