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Commentary


Nature Medicine 8, 547 - 550 (2002)
doi:10.1038/nm0602-547

Targeting the endocannabinoid system in cancer therapy: A call for further research

Maurizio Bifulco1 & Vincenzo Di Marzo2

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università di Salerno, Fisciano, Salerno and IEOS del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Dip. Biol. Patol. Cell. Mol., Università 'Federico II' di Napoli, Napoli, Italy e-mail: maubiful@unina.it
  2. Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Pozzuoli, Napoli, Italy e-mail: vdimarzo@icmib.na.cnr.it


New uses warranted for cannabinoids? Recent data indicate that synthetic or endogenous substances activating the receptor for marijuana's psychotropic component might be used as templates for the development of new anti-cancer drugs.


After almost four millennia of more-or-less licit recreational and medicinal use of Cannabis sativa, the nature of the principle psychotropic constituent of this renowned plant (-)-Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), was elucidated between the 1940s and 1960s (refs. 1,2).

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