With the recent hype around CBD oil and epilepsy treatments, the merits of CBD oil has been everyone’s mind. However, get ready for more CBD hype, as a new study on CBD’s effect on brain cancer cells has just been released.
Researchers from Colorado State University and the University of California Davis are currently investigating the effect of CBD on Glioblastoma, an extremely aggressive form of spine and brain cancer. Glioblastoma is so aggressive that over 75% of people diagnosed it die within twelve months. Out of those that survive, only 7% will live for longer than five years.
Throughout the study, researchers introduced CBD to glioblastoma cancer cells in a petri dish.
The results were startling.
In both humans and dogs, both CBD extract and pure CBD proved toxic to cancer cells – slowing its growth. However, before you get excited, it is worth knowing two things.
Firstly, these results may not apply outside a petri dish. Although CBD’s effect on cancer cells may be similar, the human body is too complicated to account for in a petri dish test.
Secondly, while CBD may kill cancer cells, it may have other (negative) effects on the body. The study noted that the amount of CBD needed to kill cancer “may not be pharmacologically attainable”, meaning it may be fatal if given to a human.
In other words, we must be careful with CBD.
Lead researcher, Chase Gross, was expected to present the study at the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. However, this conference was cancelled. Gross had this to say about the study.
Our work shows that CBD has the potential to provide an effective, synergistic glioblastoma therapy option and that it should continue to be vigorously studied.