New research suggests that compounds found in cannabis may one day help treat ovarian cancer.
A team of scientists tested two natural chemicals from the cannabis plant—CBD (cannabidiol) and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol)—on ovarian cancer cells and found that these substances showed promising anti-cancer effects in the lab.
Ovarian cancer is one of the most dangerous gynecological cancers. It is often diagnosed late, comes back frequently, and is difficult to treat with current drugs. Many treatments also cause serious side effects, making the search for better and safer options extremely important.
The research team, led by Dr. Siyao Tong from Khon Kaen University, wanted to see if cannabis compounds could offer an alternative. CBD is not psychoactive, meaning it doesn’t cause a “high,” while THC is the substance responsible for the high effects of marijuana.
Both have shown anti-cancer properties in other studies, so the researchers tested them on two different ovarian cancer cell types—one that responds to regular treatment and one that does not. They also tested the compounds on healthy cells to check for safety.
Their experiments showed that when cancer cells were treated with CBD or THC, they grew more slowly and formed fewer and smaller groups. The strongest effects were seen when both CBD and THC were used together, especially in equal amounts.
While neither compound alone killed many cancer cells, their combination worked much better, likely because they target cancer in different ways and boost each other’s effects.
Another important finding was that these compounds reduced the cancer cells’ ability to move and spread. This is a big deal because ovarian cancer often becomes deadly when it spreads to other parts of the body. A treatment that could slow down this process might help save lives.
Even more encouraging, the cannabis compounds seemed to have little impact on healthy cells. This could mean that future treatments using CBD and THC might cause fewer side effects than current cancer drugs.
To understand why the cannabis compounds were effective, the scientists studied how they affected certain cell signals. They found that a key pathway—known as PI3K/AKT/mTOR—that is often too active in ovarian cancer became more normal after treatment.
This pathway plays a role in cancer growth and resistance to drugs, so fixing it could help slow or stop the cancer.
Still, the researchers stressed that more work is needed before these compounds can be used as medicine. So far, all the testing has been done in lab dishes, not in live animals or people. More studies are needed to see how these treatments behave in the body, whether they are safe, and how much of the compound is needed to be effective.
There are also legal and regulatory challenges to using cannabis-based drugs in some countries. But despite these hurdles, the results of this study provide a strong reason to keep researching the use of CBD and THC for ovarian cancer.
While it may take years before we see cannabis-based drugs for ovarian cancer in clinics, this study offers hope for new, more effective, and potentially less toxic treatment options in the future.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that a low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and berry that can prevent cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects the risks of heart disease and cancer and results showing vitamin D supplements could strongly reduce cancer death.
The study is published in Frontiers in Pharmacology.
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