JEWISH WORLD

JEWISH WORLD • APRIL 1 - 7, 2022 5 By BRIAN BLUM C an cannabis cure breast cancer? Not yet, unfortu- nately. But according to Herzliya-based startup Cannabo- tech, when paired with medical mushrooms, cannabis may one day be able to reduce the amount of che- motherapy patients need to take. “We know that patients need a minimum amount of chemo, but a lot of people can’t survive this be- cause of side effects, so they stop the treatment,” explains Elchanan Shaked, CEO of Cannabotech. Taking a Cannabotech sup- plement could shift the balance, claims the company. Cannabotech’s treatment, which has been studied so far in cell mod- els, not only may reduce the num- ber of chemo treatments needed, it also seems to be up to six times more effective at killing cancer cells when used alongside standard chemotherapy — regardless of the dosage — compared to existing treatment, Shaked asserts. In the lab, it increased the mortality of cancer cells from 10 to 60 percent. T o start, Cannabotech is target- ing five cancers. In addition to breast cancer, the company is tional treatment,” notes Peretz. “The integrative products devel- oped by Cannabotech are unique studying how its treatment will work against pancreatic, colon, lung and prostate cancer. The breast cancer product, Canna- boBreast, is the farthest along in re- search. It was tested on several known subtypes of breast cancer, with specific treatments adapted to each subtype. Cannabotech’s early — but po- tentially groundbreaking — study was conducted under the guidance of Prof. Tami Peretz, senior oncol- ogist at Hadassah Medical Center and former director of the Center for Malignant Breast Diseases at the hospital; and Dr. Isaac Angel, an Israeli pharmacologist special- izing in drug development. Medical cannabis is already regularly prescribed for cancer pa- tients to reduce pain and nausea; in Israel, 120,000 patients have a medical cannabis license. But the dosage can be tricky: Too much THC, the plant’s psy- choactive component, can leave patients flying high and nonfunc- tional for much of the day. “Most solutions for pain have 20% to 25% THC,” Shaked says. “We deliver less than 2%.” The Cannabotech formulation also includes specific terpenes, an of- ten-overlooked chemical compo- nent of the cannabis plant. About half of “active cancer patients are currently treated with cannabis in parallel with conven- in that they are developed to stan- dards similar to those of the phar- maceutical industry and combine several active agents. The compa- ny’s products have demonstrated Fighting Cancer With Weed…Plus Israel startup’s treatment is a mix of cannabis and mushrooms Cannabotech’s idea is not to replace existing cancer treatments but to enable a patient to have fewer treatments with the same bene t. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK By DENNIS PRAGER I f one were to draw up a list of human needs, food and shelter would be at the top. With great respect to Freudians, sex would not be No. 2. The need for meaning would be second only to the need for food. That meaning is more important to happiness than sex is easily shown. A great many people go long periods without sex, and while many of them miss it, if they have meaning in their lives, they can lead quite happy and fulfilling lives. On the other hand, few peo- ple who have regular sex but lack meaning are happy or fulfilled. Third on the list of human needs is the need to feel important. This need is much less often cited than the need for food, sex and meaning. But it is so important that a case could be made that it is tied for No. 2 with the need for meaning. T he infamous “midlife crisis” is a crisis of importance: “I thought I would be much more important at this stage in life than I am.” That mostly afflicts men — just as feeling less important after one’s children have left home afflicts mothers more than fathers. Among the many psycho-social crises afflicting Americans is a cri- sis of importance. Fewer Ameri- cans feel important than did Americans in the past. Why? What has happened? What has happened is a steep decline in the number of institutions that gave people a feel- ing of importance. Given that work is generally regarded as one of the most ubiqui- tous providers of purpose, and that, prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, more Americans were working than ever before, one would think that more Americans than ever before felt important. It has not turned out that way. For many, work has not provided the sense of importance people expected it to, let alone fulfilled the other great need: for meaning. This is especially true for women, but first, we will address men. Work used to provide many men with a sense of importance. It is simply a fact that being the bread- winner for a family means one is important. However, since the 1970s and the rise of feminism, women have not only become breadwinners, but they have increasingly become the primary breadwinner within a marriage and for a family. That has helped couples finan- cially, but it has also deprived a great many men of their sense of importance. When regarded by a wife and children as important, husbands/fathers felt important. Progressive America mocks the 1950s TV series “Father Knows B st.” But when wives and childr n believed that, men felt important because they were. The price for this, according to feminism, was paid by women, who didn’t receive the accolades of breadwinning. And they set about changing it. However, contrary to the expec- tations of the well-educated, women becoming breadwinners has not provided most women with a sense of importance, and certain- ly not meaning in life. Contrary to what feminism, colleges, high schools, progressive parents and the mass media have claimed for decades, men and women do not have the same natures. Just as sex with many partners continued on page 20 Feeling Of Importance Government takes it away from you Just as most women are not as satisfied as men are with many sex partners, so it is with work. President Joe Biden repeated this theme recently: “Put trust and faith in our government,” he pleaded with Americans. One could accurately say that we are replacing America’s motto, “In God We Trust,” with, “In Government We Trust.” P RSPECTIVE continued on page 25 Elchanan Shaked, CEO of Cannabotech.