The CAnadian Network for Psychedelic-Assisted Cancer Therapy (CAN-PACT), launched in 2025, aims to address demoralization syndrome and psychosocial distress in Canadians with cancer. The network has six objectives: building a national interdisciplinary network, setting research priorities through stakeholder engagement, developing training for clinicians and researchers, pilot-testing intervention procedures, conducting a multi-center randomized controlled trial of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) for advanced cancer, and informing healthcare policy. CAN-PACT seeks to generate Canadian evidence and prepare the oncology system for equitable access to safe, evidence-based PAT in publicly funded cancer centers.
Demoralization syndrome affects about one in five Canadians with advanced cancer, marked by helplessness, hopelessness, and loss of meaning, and is linked to a greater desire for hastened death and worse outcomes, but it is underrecognized and undertreated. Pharmacological treatments fail to address its existential roots, and psychosocial therapies are underfunded and not universally effective. Mindfulness-Based Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy (MB-PAT) combines mindfulness training with psilocybin's neuroplastic effects, but its traditional one-on-one delivery limits scalability. The authors argue that group-based MB-PAT could bridge this gap by leveraging existing group therapy infrastructure and therapist familiarity with mindfulness, offering a scalable, equity-focused model for publicly funded Canadian oncology. The Canadian Network for Psychedelic-Assisted Cancer Therapy (CAN-PACT) is highlighted as a key initiative to generate evidence and capacity.