Pancreatic cancer, effect of cannabinoids in animal models
| Disease model | Treatment | Comparator | Results | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pancreatic tumour cells (MiaPaCa2), s.c. xenograft; Immunodeficient nude mice | THC peri-tumoral, 15 mg/kg per day for 14 days | Vehicle or JWH (1.5 mg/kg per day, CB2-selective agonist), or vehicle | THC reduced tumour growth by ~50%, increased apoptosis | [131] |
PDAC; KPC mice | CBD 100 mg/kg i.p. per day until death | GEM 100 mg/kg per day i.p.; every 3 days, or a combination of CBD + GEM | Mice receiving CBD + GEM survived 2.8 times longer than mice not given any treatment (1.3 times longer with CBD and 1.4 times longer with GEM alone); mean survival: no treatment 18.6, CBD 25.4 (+ 37%), GEM 27.8 (+ 49%), CBD + GEM 52.7 days (+ 183%) | [130] |
| Human PDAC cell line (Capan-2)-derived xenograft mouse model | Extract (CBD:THC = 6:1) 1 mg/kg, 5 mg/kg, or extract 10 mg/kg p.o. per day | 5-FU, 5 mg/kg i.p., three times a week, compared to a negative control group (sesame oil) | Tumour volumes were marginally but not significantly lower than after 5-FU in the 1 mg and 5 mg/kg extract group, whereas the volume of the 10 mg/kg group was higher than that of the negative control (not signif.) | [27] |
GEM: gemcitabine; 5-FU: 5-fluorouracil; signif.: significant; p.o.: per os; ~: about