New Cannabinoid Discovered Reinforcing the Potential of Marijuana in Treating Childhood Cancer

The plant that never ceases to surprise: there are already more than 100 known cannabinoids... and counting. With each new study, cannabis shows that it is far from having all its mysteries unraveled. 

The latest? The discovery of cannabielsoxa, a novel cannabinoid identified by South Korean scientists, who also reported, for the first time, the presence of several other compounds in the flowers of cannabis sativa.

The research was published this month in the journal Pharmaceuticals and conducted by a multidisciplinary team formed by representatives from universities and government agencies in South Korea, such as Wonkwang University and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The study not only isolated the new cannabinoid but also investigated the antitumor potential of 11 compounds from the plant.

Among these, seven demonstrated strong inhibitory activity against neuroblastoma cells, a type of cancer that, unfortunately, is the most common solid tumor in children and the most frequent in the first year of life. 

Although cannabielsoxa did not show toxicity against tumor cells in this specific study, other compounds known as CBD, CBDA, and CBG showed more potent inhibitory effects than the chlorin-type compounds traditionally studied in this context.

“This study successfully isolated a new cannabinoid and six known cannabinoid compounds, along with a new chlorin-type compound and three additional chlorine-type compounds, reported for the first time in the flowers of c. sativa,” say the authors.

This discovery is another brick in the ongoing construction of what cannabis truly means from a medicinal perspective. The plant has been a source of hope for cancer patients and is increasingly the target of robust research aimed at validating and expanding its therapeutic use. 

Proof of this is a meta-analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Oncology that evaluated over 10,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies on medicinal cannabis and cancer, and found an “overwhelming consensus” about its benefits, especially in improving symptoms such as pain, anxiety, stress, and sleep disorders.

It is also worth noting that previous in vitro studies have already demonstrated that cannabinoids can slow down the growth and even induce the death of tumor cells. And that lesser-known compounds, the so-called “minor cannabinoids,” have shown encouraging anticancer effects in different types of cancer, including blood cancers.

“We expected controversy. What we found was an overwhelming scientific consensus,” said Ryan Castle, head of research at the Whole Health Oncology Institute, responsible for the largest review on the topic to date.

Science is just beginning to understand the possible pathways that cannabis can offer in the fight against cancer. There are still many regulatory, accessibility, and standardization challenges. But one thing is certain: the plant continues to deliver new therapeutic possibilities every time it is studied more deeply. And now, with cannabielsoxa in the mix, the conversation promises to go even further.

With information from Marijuana Moment.