| Journal | Cancers |
| Study Type | Clinical Study |
| Population | Human participants |
This comprehensive review addresses a critical gap between preclinical cannabinoid research and clinical application in breast cancer care. With cancer patients already using cannabinoids for symptom management, understanding the potential for direct anti-tumor effects and chemotherapy enhancement becomes clinically urgent.
This mechanistic review synthesizes preclinical evidence suggesting cannabinoids may enhance conventional breast cancer therapies through multiple pathways: sensitizing tumor cells to chemotherapy, inhibiting proliferation, promoting apoptosis, and potentially mitigating chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity through antioxidant and mitochondrial protective mechanisms. The authors highlight particular promise in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer when combined with hormonal therapy. However, the review emphasizes the substantial translation gap between promising preclinical models and human clinical application, noting the absence of robust clinical trial data supporting these mechanistic findings in breast cancer patients.
“While these mechanistic insights are scientifically intriguing, I remind patients and colleagues that preclinical promise rarely translates directly to clinical benefit. We must distinguish between cannabinoids’ established role in symptom management versus unproven claims about direct anti-cancer effects.”
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This study item was assembled from normalized source metadata and pipeline scoring.