Psychological distress, such as anxiety and depression, is common among people with cancer and is often worsened by existential worries about mortality, loss of meaning, and decreased quality of life. Standard treatments, including medication and psychotherapy, often offer limited or short-term relief, highlighting the need for new, integrative psychosocial ...
Depression and psychological distress are highly prevalent among patients with cancer and are associated with impaired quality of life, reduced treatment adherence, and poorer clinical outcomes. Standard pharmacological and psychosocial interventions often demonstrate limited efficacy or delayed onset of action in oncological and palliative settings. Psilocy...
Demoralization syndrome (DS) - a distinct clinical entity characterized by helplessness, hopelessness, and a persistent loss of meaning - affects approximately one in five Canadians with advanced cancer and is associated with increased desire for hastened death, negative clinical outcomes, and higher economic burden, yet recognition and treatment of DS remai...
The CAnadian Network for Psychedelic-Assisted Cancer Therapy (CAN-PACT) was launched in 2025 to address urgent gaps in supportive care for Canadians with cancer experiencing demoralization syndrome (loss of meaning, dysphoria, disheartenment, helplessness, a sense of failure) and related psychosocial distress. CAN-PACT has six major objectives: (1) to develo...
Abstract High-grade gliomas are the most aggressive form of brain tumors, and neuronal activity has emerged as a driver of glioma pathophysiology. Activity-dependent glioma growth results from paracrine factor signaling and bona fide neuron-to-glioma synapses that integrate glioma cells into brain-wide neuronal circuits. Here, we report how glioma cells inte...
Abstract Background Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is gaining attention as a potential treatment for cancer-related psychosocial symptoms. While growing evidence highlights its promise, little is known about how different stakeholder groups perceive its use in oncology and palliative care. Objectives This study aimed to assess stakeholder-specific perspe...
This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates (1) the effectiveness of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) using psilocybin and ketamine for psychosocial symptoms in adults with cancer, (2) contextualizes findings with non-randomized and exploratory studies of other psychedelics, and (3) examines the role of therapeutic frameworks in shaping outcomes. We...
People living with cancer (PLWC) often face profound existential distress that is insufficiently addressed by conventional psychosocial supports. This qualitative study explored PLWC's attitudes, beliefs, and experiences regarding psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) as a novel approach to addressing psychosocial suffering, particularly existential distress. F...
e22518 Background: Classic psychedelics (Peyote, Psilocybin, Mescaline, and LSD) are re-emerging in the oncology toolbox. Peyote is the oldest known psychedelic, yet underexplored in clinical research. Preclinical studies suggest its extract stimulates lymphocyte proliferation, kills tumor cells, and may regulate sleep. This study aims to estimate the preval...
12021 Background: Up to 25% of people living with cancer have depression. Existing psychological interventions have limited efficacy in treating depression. Psilocybin, a 5-hydroytrptamintergic psychedelic, coupled with group therapy is safe and effective in ameliorating symptoms of depression (Agrawal et al, ASCO2022). Response to psilocybin treatment was o...
This nonrandomized controlled trial used a 1-to-1 therapist-to-patient ratio to administer psilocybin to groups of patients with cancer who were diagnosed with major depression disorder to create a scalable, rapidly effective depression treatment.
12097 Background: More than 17 million people in the U.S. live with cancer and up to 25% of them have major depression. Depression leads to lower treatment adherence, reduced quality of life, and higher rates of mortality in cancer. Yet, interventions used to treat depression in patients with cancer have limited success. Prior trials using psilocybin to trea...
This is a Phase II, single-center, fixed dose, open label trial to explore the safety, tolerability and efficacy of a 25mg dose of psilocybin in cancer patients with MDD. The study population will include adult men and women, 18 years of age or above, with MDD, diagnosed with a malignant neoplasm. MDD is defined as those who meet DSM5 diagnostic criteria for...
The primary objective of this double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study is to assess the efficacy of psilocybin administration (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), a serotonergic psychoactive agent, on psychosocial distress, with the specific primary outcome variable being anxiety associated with cancer. Secondary outcome measures will look at the ef...
cancer patient: cancer patientWith the technological advances that have been made in diagnostics for cancer, more disease is being detected at an earlier stage. Although this generally improves the patient's chances for survival, a diagnosis of cancer can often provoke significant psychological distress in patients. A significant number of cancer patients wi...
psilocybin; depression; terminal cancer; CME; CNE: psilocybin; depression; terminal cancer; CME; CNEPsilocybin is a naturally occurring alkaloid found in more than 200 species of mushrooms. This compound, which was first isolated by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofman in 1959, is the active constituent of psychedelic mushrooms which are thought to have been util...
