Della Rocca Giorgia, Di Salvo Alessandra, Salucci Erica, Amadori Michela, Re Giovanni, Vercelli Cristina
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, 06126 Perugia, Italy.
Research Center on Animal Pain (CeRiDA), University of Perugia, 06126 Perugia, Italy.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Jul 24;15(15):2185. doi: 10.3390/ani15152185.
The last decades of research have shown that the endocannabinoid system may be a promising therapeutic target for the pharmacological treatment of cancer in human medicine and possibly in veterinary medicine as well. Compared with the original cells, the expression of gene encoding for receptors and enzymes belonging to the endocannabinoid system has been found to be altered in several tumor types; it has been hypothesized that this aberrant expression may be related to the course of the neoplasm as well as to the patient's prognosis. Several studies, conducted both in vitro and in vivo, suggest that both endo- and phytocannabinoids can modulate signaling pathways, controlling cell proliferation and survival. In the complex process of carcinogenesis, cannabinoids seem to intervene at different levels by stimulating cell death, inhibiting the processes of angiogenesis and metastasis, and regulating antitumor immunity. Although the molecular mechanisms by which cannabinoids act are not always clear and defined, their synergistic activity with the most used antineoplastic drugs in clinical oncology is showing promising results, thus providing veterinary medicine with alternative therapeutic targets in disease control. This review aims to summarize current knowledge on the potential role of the endocannabinoid system and exogenous cannabinoids in oncology, with specific reference to the molecular mechanisms by which cannabinoids may exert antitumor activity. Additionally, it explores the potential synergy between cannabinoids and conventional anticancer drugs and considers their application in veterinary oncology.
过去几十年的研究表明，内源性大麻素系统可能是人类医学乃至兽医学中癌症药物治疗的一个有前景的治疗靶点。与原始细胞相比，已发现内源性大麻素系统中受体和酶的编码基因在几种肿瘤类型中的表达发生了改变；据推测，这种异常表达可能与肿瘤的进程以及患者的预后有关。多项体外和体内研究表明，内源性大麻素和植物性大麻素都可以调节信号通路，控制细胞增殖和存活。在复杂的致癌过程中，大麻素似乎通过刺激细胞死亡、抑制血管生成和转移过程以及调节抗肿瘤免疫在不同水平上发挥作用。尽管大麻素发挥作用的分子机制并不总是清晰明确，但它们与临床肿瘤学中最常用的抗肿瘤药物的协同活性显示出了有前景的结果，从而为兽医学在疾病控制方面提供了替代治疗靶点。本综述旨在总结关于内源性大麻素系统和外源性大麻素在肿瘤学中潜在作用的当前知识，特别提及大麻素发挥抗肿瘤活性的分子机制。此外，还探讨了大麻素与传统抗癌药物之间的潜在协同作用，并考虑了它们在兽医肿瘤学中的应用。
