Journal
PHARMACOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Volume 60, Issue 2, Pages 107-116Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2009.03.011
Keywords
Endocannabinoid system; Cancer; Cannabinoid receptors; Cancer treatment
Categories
Funding
- Associazione Educazione e Ricerca Medica Salernitana (ERMES)
- FIRC (Italian Foundation for Cancer Research)
- Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro Funding Source: Custom
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The discovery of the endocannabinoid system and the recognition of its potential impact in a plethora of pathological conditions, led to the development of therapeutic agents related to either the stimulation or antagonism of CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors, the majority of which are actually tested in preclinical studies for the pharmacotherapy of several diseases. Endocannabinoid-related agents have been reported to affect multiple signaling pathways and biological processes involved in the development of cancer, displaying an interesting anti-proliferative, pro-apototic, anti-angiogenic and anti-metastatic activity both in vitro and in vivo in several models of cancer. Emerging evidence suggests that agonists of cannabinoid receptors, which share the useful property to discern between tumor cells and their non-transformed counterparts, could represent novel tumor-selective tools to treat cancer in addition to their already exploited use as palliative drugs to treat chemotherapy-induced nausea, pain and anorexia/weight loss in cancer patients. The aim of this review is to evidence and update the recent emerging knowledge about the role of the endocannabinoid system in cancer biology and the potentiality of its modulation in cancer therapy. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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