World's First Cannabis-based Prescription Drug Could Soon Hit U.S Pharmacy Shelves

A British company is conducting landmark trials which could see medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabis plant itself making their way to American pharmacy shelves.

GW Pharma is in advanced clinical trials for the world's first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents - a mouth spray it hopes to market in the US as a treatment for cancer pain. The firm hopes to receive US government approval by the end of next year.

The trials come a quarter of a century after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Statins, prescribed to millions of people in Britain to lower cholesterol, could be used to treat breast cancer in some women.

Scientists have found evidence that women with breast cancer who carry a particular gene mutation could benefit from statin therapy.

A compound produced from fish oil that appears to target leukemia stem cells could lead to a cure for the disease, according to Penn State researchers.

The statement follows research where mice with leukemia-causing cells who were treated with the fish oil component were completely cured of the disease - with no relapse.

The compound - named delta-12-protaglandin J3, or D12-PGJ3 - targeted and killed the stem cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia, or CML.

But Studies Don’t Show Clear Survival Advantage

The cancer drug Avastin helped stop the spread of ovarian cancer in patients with an advanced form of the disease, two major studies have found. But it is not clear whether it helps patients to live longer than other cancer treatments.

The drug is approved in the U.S. for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer, as well as certain brain, lung, and kidney cancers. It won approval last week in Europe to treat ovarian cancer.