ANTINEOPLASTIC AND ANTI-NEOPLASTIC STEM CELL EFFECTS OF CANNABINOIDS IN HUMAN MALIGNANT MELANOMA

• Grant number: 24/08992-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2025
• End date: January 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology
• Principal Investigator: André Almeida Schenka
• Grantee: Matheus Damaceno Neroni
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Cancer represents a significant epidemiological and economic challenge worldwide. Managing this group of diseases is marked by a shortage of curative and low-toxicity therapeutic approaches, especially when patients are in advanced stages. In particular, there is a clear lack of drugs capable of inhibiting neoplastic stem cells (NSCs) - one of the primary factors responsible for therapeutic resistance and recurrence in human malignant neoplasms. Despite recent hints from the literature, the promising anti-neoplastic and anti-NSC activity of Medicinal Cannabis (MC) has not been adequately demonstrated, not even in preclinical stages. Little is known about which neoplasms might be more susceptible to MC, which of its components and formulations would be most effective, the effects of MC on NSCs, and whether cannabinoids could interact antagonistically, neutrally, or synergistically with traditional anticancer drugs (i.e., chemotherapy). Thus, this study aims to objectively address these questions by testing five Cannabis-derived compounds (raw extract/resin, cannabidiol [CBD] full and broad spectrum, isolated CBD, and CBD associated with nanoparticles). We will employ in vitro experimental models (commercially immortalized cell lines) of human malignant melanoma (specifically, B16F10 and SK-mel 2). The cannabinoids will be compared in terms of their inhibitory actions on neoplastic cell proliferation and apoptotic stimulation (both general and specifically concerning NSCs) using chromogenic immunocytochemical techniques. Through a humanitarian preclinical research effort (i.e., not posing risks to human lives or experimental animals), we aim to provide objective and swift answers to the questions raised above regarding the actual anticancer medicinal role of MC.