Rebecca Manzi A team of researchers analyzed more than 10,000 scientific studies using artificial intelligence, finding that approximately 75% of publications support the use of medical cannabis not only to relieve cancer symptoms but also for its potential antitumor effect.
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Medical marijuana has been the focus of a passionate argument in recent years, caught between its therapeutic potential and the political and social baggage that still hangs around it. But one massive new meta-analysis may be set to shift the debate forever.
With advanced artificial intelligence technology, researchers at the Whole Health Oncology Institute sifted through more than 10,000 scientific studies to uncover trends and scientific consensus about the use of cannabis in cancer treatment.
A shocking level of consensus
What do the results show? Fully 75% of surveys of studies leaned in the direction of medical marijuana—not only as a helper in combating nausea, pain, and loss of appetite, but perhaps even as an anti-tumor agent too. To discover this high a level of agreement among observers on so contentious a topic, is, quite literally, “a shocking level of consensus,” say the authors.
Three major areas show maximum potential
This was made possible by computational sentiment analysis, a method of assessing the wording of scientific papers to determine if the sentiment expressed about cannabis is positive, negative, or neutral. This allowed for one of the largest hurdles for cannabis research: data fragmentation and slow approvals because cannabis remains a Schedule I substance in the United States.
The studies identified three general fields in which cannabis was shown to have the most promising potential: oncological therapeutics, side effect control, and tumor behavior. Within every one of these fields, there were many more positive studies than negative ones.
Specifically, the findings show that cannabis drugs such as THC and CBD directly impact the growth of tumors, perhaps causing apoptosis (programmed cell death within abnormal cells) and halting cancer progression.
Aye, of course, scientists caution that results from an animal or cell-based system cannot be extrapolated without help to humans. But the consistency and overlap of the findings suggest a direction worth exploring. This new, AI-influenced mindset could be the turning point for grasping medical cannabis—science prior to stigma at last.
Source: Frontiers
