One of the scariest cancers to be diagnosed with is pancreatic cancer and it is forecast to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death by the year 2020.
Harvard University researchers have some good news however.
A study on a cannabis chemical as a treatment for pancreatic cancer may have ‘major impact,’ the Harvard researcher say.
The scientists from Harvard University’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute had a study published in the journal Frontiers of Oncology last month that has revealed that a chemical found in cannabis has demonstrated “significant therapy potential” in treatment of pancreatic cancer.
The specific drug is called FBL-03G, and is a derivative of a cannabis “flavonoid.”
The researchers took FBL-03G, and tested it on pancreas cancer through a lab experiment.
According to Wilfred Ngwa, PhD, an assistant professor at Harvard and one of the study’s researcher, the results were “major.”
“The most significant conclusion is that tumor-targeted delivery of flavonoids, derived from cannabis, enabled both local and metastatic tumor cell kill, significantly increasing survival from pancreatic cancer,” Ngwa tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “This has major significance, given that pancreatic cancer is particularly refractory to current therapies.”
The next step for the Harvard researchers is to complete ongoing pre-clinical studies.
