Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Jan 3;24(1):859.
doi: 10.3390/ijms24010859.

Phytochemical Constituents and Derivatives of Cannabis sativa; Bridging the Gap in Melanoma Treatment

Ellen Schanknecht  1 , Ava Bachari  1 , Nazim Nassar  2 , Terrence Piva  2 , Nitin Mantri  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Phytochemical Constituents and Derivatives of Cannabis sativa; Bridging the Gap in Melanoma Treatment

Ellen Schanknecht et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Melanoma is deadly, physically impairing, and has ongoing treatment deficiencies. Current treatment regimens include surgery, targeted kinase inhibitors, immunotherapy, and combined approaches. Each of these treatments face pitfalls, with diminutive five-year survival in patients with advanced metastatic invasion of lymph and secondary organ tissues. Polyphenolic compounds, including cannabinoids, terpenoids, and flavonoids; both natural and synthetic, have emerging evidence of nutraceutical, cosmetic and pharmacological potential, including specific anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and palliative utility. Cannabis sativa is a wellspring of medicinal compounds whose direct and adjunctive application may offer considerable relief for melanoma suffers worldwide. This review aims to address the diverse applications of C. sativa's biocompounds in the scope of melanoma and suggest it as a strong candidate for ongoing pharmacological evaluation.

Keywords: CBD; Cannabis sativa; THC; anti-cancer; cannabinoids; flavonoids; inflammation; melanoma; terpenoids.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Metabolic pathways of melanoma and their response to cannabinoids exposure. Red indicates inhibition and blue indicates induction of these pathways.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cust A., Mishra K., Berwick M. Melanoma–role of the environment and genetics. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 2018;17:1853–1860. doi: 10.1039/c7pp00411g. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Langley A., Levesque L., Baetz T., Asai Y. Brief Report: Increase in Melanoma Incidence in Ontario. J. Cutan. Med. Surg. 2018;22:476–478. doi: 10.1177/1203475418773360. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Watson M., Geller A.C., Tucker M.A., Guy G.P., Jr., Weinstock M.A. Melanoma burden and recent trends among non-Hispanic whites aged 15–49 years, United States. Prev. Med. 2016;91:294–298. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.08.032. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Weir H.K., Bs T.D.T., Soman A., Møller B., Ms S.L. The past, present, and future of cancer incidence in the United States: 1975 through 2020. Cancer. 2015;121:1827–1837. doi: 10.1002/cncr.29258. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rebecca V.W., Somasundaram R., Herlyn M. Pre-clinical modeling of cutaneous melanoma. Nat. Commun. 2020;11:2858. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15546-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed