How research into cannabis has brought about the proliferation of flavonoid-based medicine and how it’s helping the fight against serious diseases.
Cancer is always scary. Not every case of cancer is equivalent, however. Some forms of cancer are far more dangerous than others. Prostate cancer, for example, is overcome by many, according to the American Cancer Society. However, a paper from 2016 found that the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer was just 6%. [1]
That’s what makes the announcement of a recent patent in cannabis medicine so remarkable. In September of 2019, Flavocure Biotech Inc. was granted U.S patent No. 10,398,674. Officially, the patent is for “Therapeutic Agents Containing Flavonoid Cannabis Derivatives Targeting Kinases, Sirtuins, and Oncologic Agents for the Treatment of Cancers.” Its long name belies the notability of this announcement.
This is the first time that a genetically engineered cannabis flavonoid—Caflanone or FBL-03G—has been patented for the fight against cancer. The Executive Vice Chairman of the company pointed out that “the issuance of a patent for this body of research and its potential application to treat human populations demonstrates the scientific rigor from which our research is based.”
That research was based on work done at Harvard’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. [2] In an interview with Yahoo! Lifestyle, one of the study’s researchers noted that “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.”
The data indicated that one way that this flavonoid fights pancreatic cancer is by preventing its spread. The authors noted that it shows a “synergistic effect on pancreatic cells with exposure to 4 Gy of radiotherapy in terms of decreasing pancreatic cancer cell proliferation.” [2]
They also indicated that FBL-03G is “apparently more effective in killing pancreatic cancer cells than 4 Gy of radiotherapy,” which suggests that it may be inducing apoptosis (cell death) on its own.
Most importantly, their data showed that mice treated with the flavonoid showed significant improvements in their survival rates as compared to the control group. [2] Furthermore, according to the company’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, “no safety concerns have so far been identified” in on-going studies. The Food & Drug Administration also granted Caflanone orphan designation, which is designed to streamline development of drugs for rare diseases.
This news gives hope to people who face a serious type of cancer. Share this article if you’re excited about its potential!
References
- Ilic, Milena, and Irena Ilic. “Epidemiology of Pancreatic Cancer.” World Journal of Gastroenterology, vol.22, no.44, 2016, pp.9694-9705, doi:10.3748/wjg.v22.i44.9694. [Times cited = 195 (ResearchGate); Journal Impact Factor = 3.411]
- Moreau, Michele, et al. “Flavonoid Derivative of Cannabis Demonstrates Therapeutic Potential in Preclinical Models of Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer.” Frontiers in Oncology, 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2019.00660. [Times cited = 1 (GoogleScholar); Journal Impact Factor = 4.137]
