Cannabinoids are found in the trichomes of cannabis, in both industrial hemp and marijuana.

Because of regulation, cannabinoid research is limited; however, we have curated a cannabinoid research library of the past and current cannabinoid research available.

In the early 1990s, researchers discovered our brain’s endocannabinoid system. This system sparked wider interest in investigating the benefits and risks of both endogenous cannabinoids (cannabinoids made in the body) as well as phytocannabinoids (cannabinoids made via plants). To date, the research on the interactions of phytotocannabinoids in the human body is mostly positive.

Our cannabinoid research library separates cannabinoid research by topic. All published articles are peer-reviewed.

Cannabinoids and the Endocannabinoid System

Di Marzo, V., and F. Piscitelli. Gut feelings about the endocannabinoid system Neurogastroenterology & Motility, 23 (5) 391–398, 2011

Di Marzo, Vincenzo, et al. Letters to Nature: Leptin-regulated endocannabinoids are involved in maintaining food intake Nature 410, 822-825, 2001

Centonze, Diego, et al. The endocannabinoid system in targeting inflammatory neurodegenerative diseases TRENDS in Pharmacological Sciences 28 (4), 180-187, 2007

Erkelens, Jacob L., and Arno Hazekamp. That which we call Indica, by any other name would smell as sweet Cannabinoids 9(1), 9-15, 2014

Goodman, N. An Overview of the Endogenous Cannabinoid System: Components and Possible Roles of this Recently Discovered Regulatory System Erowid.org, v1.1 May 2003, v1.2 Feb 2005

Izzo, Angelo A., et al. “Non-psychotropic plant cannabinoids: new therapeutic opportunities from an ancient herb” Cell Press, 2009

Long, Jonathan Z., et al. Care and Feeding of the Endocannabinoid System: A Systematic Review of Potential Clinical Interventions that Upregulate the Endocannabinoid System PLoS One 9(3), e89566, 2014

Long, Jonathan Z., et al. Characterization of tunable piperidine and piperazine carbamates as inhibitors of endocannabinoid hydrolases Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 53(4): 1830–1842, 2010

Pacher, Pál, Sándor Bátkai, and George Kunos. The Endocannabinoid System as an Emerging Target of Pharmacotherapy Pharmacological Reviews 58(3), 389-462, 2006

Ruhaak, Lucia Renee, et al. Evaluation of the Cyclooxygenase Inhibiting Effects of Six Major Cannabinoids Isolated from Cannabis sativa Biol. Pharm. Bull. 34(5), 774-778, 2011

Russo, Ethan B. Taming THC: potential cannabis synergy and phytocannabinoid-terpenoid entourage effects British Journal of Pharmacology, 163(7), 1344-1364, 2011

Steffens, Sabine, et al. Low dose oral cannabinoid therapy reduces progression of atherosclerosis in mice Nature 434, 782-786, 2005

Cannabinoids and Diseases

Huntington’s Disease

Valdeolivas, Sara, et al. “Sativex-like Combination of Phytocannabinoids is Neuroprotective in Malonate-Lesioned Rats, an Inflammatory Model of Huntington’s Disease: Role of CB₁ and CB₂ Receptors” ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2009

Alzheimer’s Disease

Aso, Ester, et al. “Cannabis-based medicine reduces multiple pathological processes in AβPP/PS1 mice” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 2015

Cannabinoids and Cancer

Overview Articles

Blázquez, Cristina, et al. “Inhibition of tumor angiogenesis by cannabinoids” The FASEB Journal, 2003

Chakravarti, Bandana, Janani Ravi, and Ramesh K. Ganju. “Cannabinoids as therapeutic agents in cancer: current status and future implications” Oncotarget, 2014

Massi, Paola, et al. “Cannabidiol as potential anticancer drug” British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2013

Sarfaraz, Sami, et al. “Cannabinoids for Cancer Treatment: Progress and Promise” Cancer Research, 2008

Biliary Tract Cancer

Leelawat, Surang, et al. “The dual effects of delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol on cholangiocarcinoma cells: anti-invasion activity at low concentration and apoptosis induction at high concentration” Cancer Investigations, 2010

Blood Cancer

Gustafsson, Kristin, et al. “Expression of cannabinoid receptors type 1 and type 2 in non-Hodgkin lymphoma: Growth inhibition by receptor activation” International Journal of Cancer, 2008

Jia, Wentao, et al. “Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol-induced apoptosis in Jurkat leukemia T cells is regulated by translocation of Bad to mitochondria” Molecular Cancer Research, 2006

McKallip, Robert J., et al. “Targeting CB2 cannabinoid receptors as a novel therapy to treat malignant lymphoblastic disease” Blood, 2002

Brain Cancer

Blázquez, Cristina, et al. “Cannabinoids inhibit the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway in gliomas.” Cancer research 64.16 (2004): 5617-5623.

Massi, Paola, et al. “Antitumor effects of cannabidiol, a nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, on human glioma cell lines.” Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 308.3 (2004): 838-845.

Guzman, M., et al. “A pilot clinical study of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.” British journal of cancer 95.2 (2006): 197-203.

Salazar, María, et al. “Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells.” The Journal of clinical investigation 119.5 (2009): 1359-1372.

Sánchez, Cristina, et al. “Inhibition of glioma growth in vivo by selective activation of the CB2 cannabinoid receptor.” Cancer Research 61.15 (2001): 5784-5789.

Scott, Katherine A., Angus G. Dalgleish, and Wai M. Liu. “The combination of cannabidiol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol enhances the anticancer effects of radiation in an orthotopic murine glioma model.” Molecular cancer therapeutics 13.12 (2014): 2955-2967.

Vaccani, Angelo, et al. “Cannabidiol inhibits human glioma cell migration through a cannabinoid receptor‐independent mechanism.” British journal of pharmacology 144.8 (2005): 1032-1036.

Velasco, Guillermo, et al. “Cannabinoids and gliomas.” Molecular neurobiology 36.1 (2007): 60-67.

Breast Cancer

Caffarel, María M., et al. “Cannabinoids: a new hope for breast cancer therapy?” Cancer Treatment Reviews, 2012

Caffarel, María M., et al. “Cannabinoids reduce ErbB2-driven breast cancer progression through Akt inhibition.” Molecular Cancer, 2010

Caffarel, María M., et al. “Δ⁹-Tetrahydrocannabinol Inhibits Cell Cycle Progression in Human Breast Cancer Cells through Cdc2 Regulation” Journal of Cancer Research, 2006

Ligresti, Alessia, et al. “Anti-tumor activity of plant cannabinoids with emphasis on the effect of cannabidiol on human breast carcinoma” Journal of Pharmacology, 2006

McAllister, Sean D., et al. “Cannabidiol as a novel inhibitor of Id-1 gene expression in aggressive breast cancer cells.” Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, 2007

McAllister, Sean D., et al. “Pathways mediating the effects of cannabidiol on the reduction of breast cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis.” Breast Cancer Research & Treatment, 2011

Melck, Dominique, et al. “Suppression of Nerve Growth Factor Trk Receptors and Prolactin Receptors by Endocannabinoids Leads to Inhibition of Human Breast and Prostate Cancer Cell Proliferation 1.” Endocrinology 141.1 (2000): 118-126.

Nasser, Mohd W., et al.“Crosstalk between chemokine receptor CXCR4 and cannabinoid receptor CB₂ in modulating breast cancergrowth and invasion.” PLoS One, 2011

Takeda, Shuso, et al. “Cannabidiolic acid, a major cannabinoid in fiber-type cannabis, is an inhibitor of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell migration.” Toxicology Letters, 2012

Colorectal Cancer

Izzo, Angelo A., and Michael Camilleri. “Cannabinoids in intestinal inflammation and cancer” Pharmacological Research, 2009

Patsos, Helena A., et al. “The endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide, induces cell death in colorectal carcinoma cells: a possible role for cyclooxygenase 2” Gut, 2005

Liver Cancer

Vara, Diana, et al. “Anti-tumoral action of cannabinoids on hepatocellular carcinoma: role of AMPK-dependent activation of autophagy”
Cell Death & Differentiation, 2011

Lung Cancer

Preet, Anju, et al. “Cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, as novel targets for inhibition of non-small cell lung cancer growth and metastasis.” Cancer Prevention Research, 2011

Ramer, Robert, et al. “Cannabidiol inhibits lung cancer cell invasion and metastasis via intercellular adhesion molecule-1.” The FASEB Journal, 2012

Preet, A., R. K. Ganju, and J. E. Groopman. “Δ⁹-Tetrahydrocannabinol inhibits epithelial growth factor-induced lung cancer cell migration in vitro as well as its growth and metastasis in vivo” Oncogene, 2008

Mouth & Throat Cancer

Whyte, Donna A., et al. “Cannabinoids inhibit cellular respiration of human oral cancer cells” Pharmacology, 2010

Ovarian Cancer

Afaq, Farrukh, et al. “Cannabinoid receptors as a target for therapy of ovarian cancer” AACR, 2006

Prostate Cancer

Mimeault, Murielle, et al. “Anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of anandamide in human prostatic cancer cell lines: implication of epidermal growth factor receptor down-regulation and ceramide production” Prostate, 2003

Ramos, Juan A., and Fernando J. Bianco. “The role of cannabinoids in prostate cancer: Basic science perspective and potential clinical applications” Indian Journal of Urology, 2012

Ouyang, Xue Song, et al. Id-1 stimulates serum independent prostate cancer cell proliferation through inactivation of p16INK4a/pRB pathway Carcinogenesis 23 (5), 721-725, 2002

Skin Cancer

Casanova, M. Llanos, et al. “Inhibition of skin tumor growth and angiogenesis in vivo by activation of cannabinoid receptors” Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2003

Uterine, Testicular, & Pancreatic Cancer

Carracedo, Arkaitz, et al. “Cannabinoids Induce Apoptosis of Pancreatic Tumor Cells via Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress–Related Genes”Cancer research 66.13 (2006): 6748-6755

Magaya-Kalbermatten, Natalie, and CAM-Cancer Consortium. “Cannabis and cannabinoids.” (2016).