Psilocybin for Depression and Anxiety in Cancer Patients
Tammie E. Quest, Ali John Zarrabi
January 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1093/med/9780197770337.003.0038 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractIn a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial, 51 cancer patients with depression and anxiety received a low dose (placebo) and a high dose of psilocybin combined with psychotherapy, with sessions spaced 5 weeks apart and follow-up at 6 months. The high-dose group showed large reductions in clinician- and self-rated depression and anxiety, along with improved quality of life, life meaning, optimism, and decreased death anxiety at 5 weeks. Around 80% of participants maintained significant improvements in depression and anxiety at 6-month follow-up. A mystical-type experience on the drug session day mediated the effect of psilocybin dose on therapeutic outcomes.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized, double-blind, crossover trial |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 51 |
| Population | Cancer patients with symptoms of depression and anxiety |
| Interventions | Psilocybin Psychotherapy |
| Dose | low-dose psilocybin (placebo) and high-dose psilocybin |
| Duration | 5 weeks between dosing sessions, 6-month follow-up |
| Topics | Anxiety Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Depression economics Cancer Psychiatry |
| Key finding | High-dose psilocybin combined with psychotherapy produced large, durable reductions in depression and anxiety in cancer patients, mediated by mystical-type experiences. |
Abstract
Abstract Fifty-one cancer patients with symptoms of depression and anxiety were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial using low-dose psilocybin (placebo) and high-dose psilocybin (intervention group) combined with psychotherapy with 5 weeks between dosing sessions and at 6-month follow-up. Participants in the intervention group had large decreases in clinician- and self-rated measures of depression and anxiety. They also had improvements in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism and decreases in death anxiety at 5 weeks. Significant changes in depression and anxiety were durable for around 80% of participants at 6-month follow-up. A mystical-type experience on the drug session day mediated the effect of psilocybin dose on the therapeutic outcomes.