Cannabis hope for aggressive tumours

Cancer specialist says trials of a cannabis-based drug on patients with aggressive brain tumours are have shown “encouraging” results.

Professor Anthony Chalmers, head of clinical oncology at Glasgow University, said the results revealing a cannabis drug called Sativex may prolong a patient’s life should be followed by more extensive research.

His patients were part of an international drug study showing 83 per cent ofpatientswerealiveayear later compared with 53 per cent of those who did not get the cannabis drug.

The highly aggressive tumours, glioblastomas, normally leave most patients with a life expectancy of just 12 to 18 months.

His comment came as some patients with brain tumours illegally import medical cannabis to treat tumours previously labelled incurable.