Researches from all over the world are concluding that certain parts of the cannabis plant do in fact help breast cancer patients in a crucial way.

It is no secret that breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women. One in eight women (in the world) will be diagnosed with it at some point in their life and in the U.S. alone, around 600,000 lives are claimed every year.

However, researches from all over the world are concluding that certain parts of the cannabis plant do in fact help breast cancer patients in a crucial way.

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One of the hardest parts about treating breast cancer is that once that tumor spreads, serious complications can ensue. However, recent studies and research are actively showing that cannabis can inhibit metastasis (the spreading of tumors throughout the body). In 2014, Researchers from the California Pacific Medical Research Center (CPMRC) found that Cannabidiol or CBD (the non-psychoactive component of cannabis) can block the progression of metastasis.

Tumor growth can mostly be attributed to two genes: Id-1 and Akt. The lead researcher at CPMRC, Dr. Sean Allister, has been tackling the use of CBD to turn off the Id-1 and block Akt genes since 2007 and has seen extremely promising results: not only did CBD appear to inhibit metastasis, but also appeared to be a better alternative for patients where intensive chemotherapy proved ineffective. The CBD’s low toxicity level also makes it an appealing remedy for patients.

Dr. Allister isn’t the only one who sees the benefit of using CBD for breast cancer patients. In 2012, researchers in Madrid concluded that CBD and its derivatives “possess anti-cancer activity.” Most importantly, they saw that that these compounds apply “anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic, anti-migratory and anti-invasive actions.” SImply put, these compounds can decrease tumor sizes, allow cells to kill themselves off (cell suicide, if you will) and stop the spread of tumors while not harming healthy cells.

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A 2011 study from researchers in Israel also concluded that CBD is an antineoplastic agent. That is, it has the ability to inhibit, prevent and even halt the development of a tumor. These researches also found that CBD has the astonishing ability to coordinate cell apoptotic and cell autophagy. That means CBD works to help the body eliminate old and unhealthy cells and break down unwanted ones.

So what does all this mean? CBD has the leading power to attack one of the deadliest diseases among women.