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Cannabinoids and Gliomas

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Abstract

Cannabinoids, the active components of Cannabis sativa L., act in the body by mimicking endogenous substances—the endocannabinoids—that activate specific cell surface receptors. Cannabinoids exert various palliative effects in cancer patients. In addition, cannabinoids inhibit the growth of different types of tumor cells, including glioma cells, in laboratory animals. They do so by modulating key cell signaling pathways, mostly the endoplasmic reticulum stress response, thereby inducing antitumoral actions such as the apoptotic death of tumor cells and the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis. Of interest, cannabinoids seem to be selective antitumoral compounds, as they kill glioma cells, but not their non-transformed astroglial counterparts. On the basis of these preclinical findings, a pilot clinical study of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme has been recently run. The good safety profile of THC, together with its possible growth-inhibiting action on tumor cells, justifies the setting up of future trials aimed at evaluating the potential antitumoral activity of cannabinoids.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the rest of our lab colleagues for their collaboration and encouragement. Research in our laboratory is financially supported by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (SAF2006-00918), Comunidad de Madrid (S-SAL/0261/2006), Fundación de Investigación Médica Mutua Madrileña Automovilística and Santander/Complutense (PR27/05-13988).

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  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I, School of Biology, Complutense University, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Guillermo Velasco, Arkaitz Carracedo, Cristina Blázquez, Mar Lorente, Tania Aguado, Amador Haro, Cristina Sánchez, Ismael Galve-Roperh & Manuel Guzmán

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  1. Guillermo Velasco
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  2. Arkaitz Carracedo
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  3. Cristina Blázquez
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Correspondence to Manuel Guzmán.

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Velasco, G., Carracedo, A., Blázquez, C. et al. Cannabinoids and Gliomas. Mol Neurobiol 36, 60–67 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-007-0002-5

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