Endocannabinoids as Guardians of Metastasis

Abstract

Endocannabinoids including anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol are involved in cancer pathophysiology in several ways, including tumor growth and progression, peritumoral inflammation, nausea and cancer pain. Recently we showed that the endocannabinoid profiles are deranged during cancer to an extent that this manifests in alterations of plasma endocannabinoids in cancer patients, which was mimicked by similar changes in rodent models of local and metastatic cancer. The present topical review summarizes the complexity of endocannabinoid signaling in the context of tumor growth and metastasis.

Keywords

• endocannabinoids
• anandamide
• 2-arachidonoylglycerol
• orphan G-protein coupled receptor
• immune cells
• angiogenesis