Psilocybin for Depression and Anxiety in Cancer Patients
Tammie E. Quest, Ali John Zarrabi
2025 DOI: 10.1093/med/9780197770337.003.0038 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| 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 Depression |
| Keywords | Depression economics Cancer Clinical psychology Psychotherapist Hallucinogen Keynesian economics |
| Key findings | 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.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on psilocybin for anxiety, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cites 4
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- Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: a randomized controlled trial Journal of Psychopharmacology November 30, 2016
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- Psilocybin-assisted group therapy for demoralized older long-term AIDS survivor men: An open-label safety and feasibility pilot study EClinicalMedicine September 24, 2020