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.