Using CBD in Lung Cancer Therapy: A Practical Example
For over half a century, medical professionals and the scientific community have been actively searching for a potential cure for cancer, or at least a substance capable of slowing the progression of the disease. Although chemotherapy and radiation therapy remain the most widely recognized cancer treatments today, researchers have made significant progress in controlling cancer progression and preventing metastasis. These advances are often linked to the use of alternative therapeutic agents, mainly of plant origin, which influence tumor development by modulating the immune system’s mechanisms.
While the use of such agents is still relatively limited and localized, both private and clinical trials show that this approach to cancer therapy is generally safer and more effective than conventional treatments. This practice is often referred to as “targeted” therapy, as opposed to chemical or radiological procedures, because it affects only the disease site rather than the entire body. Of course, this method is far from perfect, as it is not a direct cure for cancer. Targeted agents can slow disease progression, reduce the risk of metastasis, and in some cases, trigger the death of cancerous cells. However, these agents do not guarantee a 100% success rate.
Given the high heterogeneity of cancer (i.e., the wide variety of genes whose replication errors can cause tumors), it is highly unlikely that humanity will ever find a single cure for all types of cancer. At best, a potential cure will combine several therapeutic compounds and active treatment methods that together can safely and controllably induce the death of cancer cells while minimizing the risk of metastasis.
Knowing the direction in which to search, the global medical community continues to test thousands of natural and synthetic compounds, conducting dozens of experiments each year. In addition to new, unstudied compounds, researchers also examine the side effects of other pharmaceuticals and psychoactive substances, hoping to discover previously overlooked properties that could become new pieces of the puzzle.
Over the past decade, one substance has stood out as a potentially universally effective agent in cancer therapy: CBD, a non-psychoactive therapeutic cannabinoid found in high concentrations in industrial hemp. CBD is known for its strong analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and tonic effects. The substance first attracted the attention of cancer therapy specialists about 15 years ago, when it began to be tested more frequently in private and university laboratories worldwide. Around that time, the first consumer reviews and private scientific reports appeared, indicating that even small doses of CBD could slow cancer progression in various forms. Later, reports emerged suggesting that CBD could trigger cell death in cancerous cells, destroying them without harming surrounding healthy tissue. For the first time, a substance demonstrated a consistent ability not only to restrain but also to reverse tumor growth, which drew significant attention from scientists, doctors, and the public, with some media prematurely calling it a “cancer cure.”
Since then, the number and variety of studies confirming the therapeutic properties of CBD and other cannabinoids have only increased. Today, hundreds of private observations confirm CBD’s protective and anti-cancer properties, as demonstrated in tests on cell cultures and living models, including human volunteers. To illustrate these effects, this article presents a specific case of CBD use in the therapy of an inoperable lung tumor.
Case Study: Successful Use of CBD Extracts in Modulating Lung Cancer Progression
The subject of this case is an 81-year-old man living in the United States who wished to remain anonymous. In October 2016, he was admitted to the hospital with complaints of chronic shortness of breath, without cough or other symptoms indicating a respiratory infection. An initial X-ray showed a shadow in the lower part of his left lung, prompting further scans. A CT scan confirmed the presence of a foreign mass measuring 2.5 x 2.5 cm in the lung wall, connected to several lymph nodes in the mediastinum. An ultrasound-guided biopsy confirmed the mass was a lung adenocarcinoma. The cancer cells tested positive for CK7, TTF-1, and estrogen receptor factors, and negative for CK20, S100, PSA, CD56, synaptophysin, and chromogranin. The tumor also showed a negative epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and a low level of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) mutation.
Image “a” shows the shadow representing the tumor in the lung area. Image “b” shows the sites where the tumor contacted lymph nodes in the mediastinum.
The patient’s medical history included previous treatment for chronic respiratory diseases and prostate cancer, which went into remission after a radical prostatectomy in 2004. He had been on a controlled diet due to diabetes and had a history of chronic smoking (up to 18 cigarettes a day for 15 years), but quit about 45 years ago, before his first cancer diagnosis and before frequent respiratory health issues. Overall, both doctors and the patient described his health as mediocre, confirmed by all physiological indicators. Due to his poor health and advanced age, the patient declined radiation or chemotherapy, believing such harsh treatments would likely worsen his quality of life. Instead, he sought out alternative treatments and discovered CBD-based medicines.
One and a half months after the initial examination, in December 2016, the patient returned for a follow-up CT scan. The mass in the lower lung had grown slightly to 2.7 x 2.8 cm, but the cancerous area in the mediastinum had decreased. Despite more than a month passing since the previous scan, the cancer had not spread to other lymph nodes. Doctors again offered standard cancer therapy, but the patient refused.
By the next checkup in July 2017, most of the tumor had disappeared from the mediastinal lymph nodes, and the cancerous mass in the lung wall had shrunk, though not enough to be considered remission. Finally, a November 2017 scan showed almost complete disappearance of the mass, along with further reduction in the mediastinal tumor. The lung wall mass had shrunk to 1.3 x 0.6 cm, with only a couple of adjacent lymph nodes still showing pathology. A January 2018 scan showed further reduction, though not complete disappearance, of the cancerous tissue, allowing doctors to declare remission.
Image “a” shows regression of the cancer cell cluster in the lung tissue: the previously plaque-shaped mass had shrunk to a thin strip of affected cells. Similarly, image “b” clearly demonstrates the degree of remission in the lymph nodes.
Upon questioning, the patient revealed that about a month after his first doctor’s visit, he began regularly taking a 2% CBD oil extract under the brand MyCBD (derived from industrial hemp, containing about 200 mg of active ingredient per 10 ml of liquid). He took two drops (about 0.06 ml, or 1.32 mg of CBD) twice daily for a week, then increased to nine drops twice daily (0.3 ml, or 6 mg of CBD per day). After the November 2017 checkup, he continued this regimen, with a brief one-week break due to mild nausea, possibly from a CBD overdose. The patient did not take any other pharmaceutical or psychoactive drugs, nor did he change his residence, lifestyle, or diet, ruling out these factors as significant influences on disease progression.
Discussion of Observations
This case demonstrates CBD’s ability to restrain tumor growth and possibly induce cancer cell death in a specific type of cancer (in this case, lung adenocarcinoma). Without the ability to observe the substance’s effects at the cellular level, doctors and scientists have proposed several hypotheses to explain how CBD might work in the body.
Based on other studies of CBD in cancer therapy, it is believed that CBD and other cannabinoids may affect the growth and development of cancer cells by acting on various receptor compounds, including CB receptors. CBD is a reverse agonist of CB1 receptors and a blocker of CB2 activity, but it has relatively low reactivity with these receptors compared to THC, other endo- and exocannabinoids, and synthetic variants. However, its anti-cancer properties may be more related to its ability to interact with transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) channels, specifically TRPV1 and TRPV2, which significantly alter calcium ion concentrations in the intercellular environment. In this way, CBD can modulate cell growth and division, potentially regulating these functions in uncontrollably dividing cancer cell clusters.
CBD’s ability to induce cancer cell death has been linked to the activation of caspase enzymes and other reactive oxygen species, as well as influencing the production of p53, mTOR, and cyclin D1 factors, which trigger apoptosis (natural cell death) in cancer-affected tissues. These effects also slow the migration of endothelial cells (blood vessel cells), preventing the formation of new capillaries that feed tumors and reducing the risk of cancer cells spreading to other tissues, thus lowering the risk of metastasis.
Finally, CBD also modulates immune system activity, which, combined with the destructive action of released enzymes and stimulation of cell death, makes cancer cells visible and vulnerable to normally indifferent macrophages, particularly lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells. While this observation does not show complete cancer disappearance with regular CBD use, it provides a clear example of how cannabinoids can restrain disease progression and weaken tumor cells, reducing health and life risks for the patient. The subject achieved this result in just one year of active CBD oil use, with minimal changes to his daily routine. The treatment produced these effects without the severe side effects typical of traditional cancer therapies, which is an impressive result for a substance currently used only as an “alternative” or adjunctive cancer therapy.
In any case, to confirm these observations and test the effectiveness of cannabinoids in treating other types of cancer, much larger and more detailed studies are needed.