Medical cannabis formulations effective at killing prostate cancer

Medical cannabis formulations, developed by a UK pharmaceutical company, have been found to be effective at fighting prostate cancer.

UK-based pharmaceutical company Apollon Formularies has carried out third-party independent testing of its medical cannabis formulations, which were found to be effective in killing hormone-resistant and hormone-sensitive prostate cancer cells in 3D cell cultures.

Prostate cancer is the second most frequent malignancy, after lung cancer, in men worldwide, causing 358,989 deaths – 3.8 percent – of all deaths caused by cancer in men, in 2018.

The incidence and mortality of prostate cancer worldwide correlate with increasing age, with the average age at the time of diagnosis being 66 years.

The medical cannabis formulations were developed by Apollon Formularies Jamaica Limited.

Apollon intends to immediately make the formulations available to licensed Jamaican physicians with experience in prescribing Apollon products, which will enable them to begin treating prostate cancer patients in Jamaica.

Positive pre clinical results

Laboratory testing results demonstrated that the formulations were effective in killing living hormone-sensitive and hormone-resistant prostate cancer cells directly, killing nearly 100 percent of the prostate cancer cells.

Previously, the formulations have also demonstrated success in killing HER2+ breast cancer cells and triple-negative breast cancer cells.

Stephen Barnhill, MD and CEO of Apollon, commented: “Cannabinoids have been seen to exert ‘anti-tumour’ effects by a number of different means, including killing cancer cells directly as well as inhibiting transformed cell growth and tumour metastasis.

“We are extremely excited that our proprietary medical cannabis formulations have been validated via independent laboratory testing to kill both hormone-sensitive and hormone-resistant prostate cancer cells in 3D cell cultures via direct cytotoxicity.”

“These remarkable results demonstrating the ability of the Apollon formulations to directly kill nearly 100% of prostate cancer cells in 3D cell culture provide us independent scientific evidence of the success of these products in pre-clinical testing,” added Dr Herbert Fritsche, Chief Science Officer of Apollon, and former Professor and Director of Clinical Chemistry at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center.

“Pursuant to the Research & Development and the Retail-Therapeutic medical cannabis licences issued to Apollon Jamaica by the Jamaican Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), we intend to make these formulations immediately available to licensed Jamaican physicians experienced in prescribing Apollon products, allowing them to begin immediately treating patients who have prostate cancer in Jamaica where the companies’ formulations are currently available by physician prescription. This will allow us to supplement these impressive laboratory results with clinical data from the treatment of human patients.”

A cost-effective prostate cancer treatment

Chairman and CEO of Apollon Jamaica, Paul Burke, highlighted that the formulations are expected to be a more cost-effective treatment for prostate cancer.

“These Apollon formulation test results on prostate cancer and the plan to immediately begin treatments in Jamaica are extremely exciting developments for Jamaican men, in part, because traditional chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery cancer treatment protocols are expensive and require a great deal of infrastructure,” said Burke. 

“As a result, many men in Jamaica and worldwide have gone without treatment or with only limited treatment. The Apollon medical cannabis formulations are expected to be comparatively much less expensive, providing an opportunity for more men to have their prostate cancer treated. 

“I look forward to bringing these formulations to market as quickly as possible and in a manner that allows Jamaican men with prostate cancer, as well as men traveling from international locations to Jamaica as medical tourists for our treatment, to have access to high quality complementary and alternative medical care.”

The testing occurred as a part of a Joint Testing Agreement between the parties and was authorised in accordance with Apollon Jamaica’s Research & Development licence issued by the Jamaican government’s Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA).