Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the UK with around 55,200 new breast cancer cases in the UK every year. This means that 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime but advances in treatment and screening now mean that survival rates have increased, as has the awareness to ensure early detection and treatment.
Breast cancer occurs when abnormal cells in the breast begin to grow and divide until they form a tumour. This commonly occurs in the cells that line the ducts of the breast and the lobules, the glands that produce milk. Ducts are the pathways that bring the milk from the glands to the nipple.
Not only does cancer invade healthy breast tissue but the cancer cells can also travel to the lymph nodes under the arms, which can potentially move cancer to other parts of the body.
How Many Types Of Breast Cancer Are There?
Luminal A breast cancer is hormone-receptor positive (oestrogen-receptor and/or progesterone-receptor positive), HER2 negative, and has low levels of the protein Ki-67, which helps control how fast cancer cells grow. Luminal A cancers are low-grade, tend to grow slowly and have the best prognosis.
Luminal B breast cancer is hormone-receptor positive (oestrogen-receptor and/or progesterone-receptor positive), and either HER2 positive or HER2 negative with high levels of Ki-67. Luminal B cancers generally grow slightly faster than luminal A cancers and their prognosis is slightly worse.
Triple-negative/basal-like breast cancer is hormone-receptor negative (oestrogen-receptor and progesterone-receptor negative) and HER2 negative. This type of cancer is more common in women with BRCA1 gene mutations. Researchers aren’t sure why, but this type of cancer also is more common among younger and African-American women.
Her2-enriched breast cancer is hormone-receptor negative (oestrogen-receptor and progesterone-receptor negative) and HER2 positive. HER2-enriched cancers tend to grow faster than luminal cancers and can have a worse prognosis, but they are often successfully treated with targeted therapies aimed at the HER2 protein, such as Herceptin (chemical name: trastuzumab), Perjeta (chemical name: pertuzumab), Tykerb (chemical name: lapatinib), and Kadcyla (chemical name: T-DM1 or ado-trastuzumab emtansine).
Normal-like breast cancer is similar to luminal A: hormone-receptor positive (oestrogen-receptor and/or progesterone-receptor positive), HER2 negative, and has low levels of the protein Ki-67, which helps control how fast cancer cells grow. Still, while normal-like breast cancer has a good prognosis, its prognosis is slightly worse than luminal A cancer’s prognosis.
What Are The Symptoms?
A new lump or thickening in the breast or armpit, skin changes in the breast such as puckering, dimpling, a rash or redness of the skin, any change in the size, shape, or feel of your breast, fluid leaking from the nipple (in a woman who isn’t pregnant or breastfeeding) and changes in the position of the nipple.
What Are The Risk Factors?
Anything that increases risk of disease is considered a risk factor, which means alcohol, obesity, and being inactive. There is a very small increased risk of breast cancer when you take the contraceptive pill (this increased risk disappears after about 10 years) and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to reduce menopausal symptoms.
There are two main types of HRT – combined HRT (oestrogen and progesterone) and oestrogen-only HRT – and the risk of breast cancer is higher with either type but is biggest for those using combined HRT. Women who have the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are more likely to develop breast cancer than women who don’t and, of course, men also have breast tissue just like women do so although it’s much rarer, men can develop breast cancer too.
How Can Medical Cannabis Help With Breast Cancer?
To date, scientific research on how cannabinoids – naturally-occurring chemical compounds – in medical cannabis can treat cancer has almost entirely taken place in a laboratory or in animal models, which means medical trials on humans are necessary.
What we do know is that the body naturally produces cannabinoids, like the cannabis plant, which are called endocannabinoids (from ‘endogenous’ which means ‘growing or originating within an organism’).
Our endocannabinoid system is responsible for maintaining homeostasis within the body and regulates a variety of functions including sleep, digestion, pain, memory, fertility, inflammation, mood, and cognition. Our endocannabinoids bind to endocannabinoid receptors, of which there are two types: CB1 receptors, which are in the brain and central nervous system, and CB2 receptors, which are in the immune system. Enzymes then break down endocannabinoids once they’ve carried out their intended function to continue homeostasis.
When our endocannabinoid system becomes deficient – when the body isn’t correctly making endocannabinoids, if there aren’t enough receptors, if there is an overabundance of enzymes, or if there isn’t adequate communication between our endocannabinoids and receptors – we experience health problems like stress, insomnia, illness and disease, including cancer. Ingesting medical cannabis allows the plant’s cannabinoids to mimic the natural compounds in our body and bind to our CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors, helping the body function properly again.
A mix of studies listed in the journal Nature Reviews Cancer describes the effects medical cannabis has had on cancer cells in the lab, which include:
- Triggering cell death, through a mechanism called apoptosis
- Stopping cells from dividing
- Preventing new blood vessels from growing into tumours
- Reducing the chances of cancer cells spreading through the body, by stopping cells from moving or invading neighbouring tissue
- Speeding up the cell’s internal ‘waste disposal machine’ – a process known as autophagy – which can lead to cell death
It even appears that cannabinoids can exert effects on cancer cells that don’t involve cannabinoid receptors, but this remains a vague area.
If you’re opting for the conventional medicine route, which typically includes chemotherapy and radiation, medical cannabis can also soothe side-effects that include fatigue, nausea, appetite loss and pain, and more, helping you regain a quality of life again.
How Does Medical Cannabis Directly Affect Breast Cancer Tumours?
In 2011, the American Association for Cancer Research revealed CBD kills cells associated with breast cancer while having little to no effect on normal breast cells. When studied in mice, CBD reduced the growth, number, and spread of tumours.
In 2015, a study in the Molecular Oncology journal found that by inhibiting epidermal growth factor (EGF) and its related receptor, CBD reduced the proliferation and migration of TNBC cells in triple-negative cancer.
It said: “The anti-tumour role and mechanisms of cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychotropic cannabinoid compound, are not well studied especially in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). In the present study, we analysed CBD’s anti-tumorigenic activity against highly aggressive breast cancer cell lines including TNBC subtype. We show here for the first time-that CBD significantly inhibits epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced proliferation and chemotaxis of breast cancer cells.”
In 2018 a study in Madrid looked at the entourage effect, which is when the unique effects and benefits of cannabis compounds change in the presence of others, was tested on breast cancer tumours in female mice and it was found that the whole-plant preparation had stronger anti-tumour effects than THC alone in triple-negative breast cancer – the subtype with the worst prognosis – and ER+/PR+, HER2+ cancer.
Also, the Spanish scientists say that the whole plant cannabis drug preparation “did not, in any case, diminish the anti-tumour efficacy of any of the standard treatments.” That means that cancer patients who use cannabis to manage the adverse side effects of chemotherapy, like pain and nausea and for appetite stimulation, can do so knowing it’s safe. It may also increase the efficacy of standard chemotherapy treatments, which means that chemotherapy could be more effective – requiring lower and less toxic doses – when used in combination with cannabis. This could be a promising new future for whole-plant cannabis oil extracts and an area to watch.
How Does Medical Cannabis Help Quality Of Life For Symptoms Of Convential Treatments?
A survey released in 2020 comprised of 612 patients aged 18 and over who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the last five years said that medical cannabis was very effective for symptom management during conventional treatments like chemotherapy, targeted therapy, hormonal therapy, and radiation. 42 percent of participants had used medical cannabis products to relieve symptoms, including insomnia (70 percent), pain (59 percent), anxiety (57 percent), stress (51 percent), and nausea/vomiting (46 percent), and additionally, cannabis was used prior to treatment in 24 percent, during treatment in 79 percent, and after treatment in 54 percent. Of subjects reporting cannabis use during treatment: 86 percent used it during chemotherapy, 71 percent during HER2 therapy, 65 percent during hormonal therapy, 49 percent during breast radiation, and 47 percent during radiation for metastatic site
Actress and singer Olivia Newton-John is perhaps one of the most famous advocates for medical cannabis and has been using the plant to treat her third cancer diagnosis, allowing her to come off morphine and opioids. The Grease and four-time Grammy Award-winning actress first discovered breast cancer in 1992. After a car accident in 2013, doctors found that cancer had returned and had spread to her shoulder. In 2017 she discovered that it had spread to the base of her spine.
Does Medical Cannabis Help All Types Of Breast Cancers?
The ratios of THC and CBD must be matched to the classification of breast cancer.
Research has shown that PR+, HER2-positive, and triple-negative breast cancers can be effectively treated with cannabis. The protocols recommended for cannabis breast cancer treatment have high THC-to-CBD ratios – A ratio of around 4:1.
Cancers that involve estrogen, however, may actually spread in response to large amounts of THC. Patients with ER+ or triple-positive breast cancer do better with cannabis breast cancer treatments containing lower ratios of THC to CBD – A ratio 1:1 to 1:4 is preferable. Please use our contact details for further advice.
Further Reading
How and where to safely buy RSO medical cannabis oil online
Help and Advice
If you need advice or help with Medical Cannabis and RSO, please use the contact form provided. We try to answer all emails within 24 hours and are happy to help and advise on all aspects of Medical Cannabis treatments in complete confidence.
Disclaimer: Please note that whilst we consider ourselves subject matter experts regarding Medical Cannabis, we are not medical professionals. We are a Medical Cannabis information resource, educating and helping those in need. Whilst we are very strong believers in the benefits of Medical Cannabis, there is still limited evidence that Medical Cannabis can treat/cure all the illnesses we discuss on our website. We recommend you do as much research as possible, and where practical seek professional medical advice before proceeding with Medical Cannabis oil.