Psilocybin based therapy for cancer related distress, a systematic review and meta analysis
arXiv Preprint Archive October 10, 2019 preprint
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review with meta-analysis Randomized Qualitative |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 105 |
| Population | Patients with cancer-related depression and anxiety |
| Intervention | Psilocybin-based therapy |
| Topics | Psilocybin |
| Keywords | Q-bio.qm Q-bio.nc Psilocybin-therapy Cancer-mental-health Neuroscience-research Quantitative-biology Clinical-trials |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | Psilocybin significantly reduced depression and anxiety compared to placebo in patients with cancer, with a pooled Peto odds ratio showing superiority, and appeared safe. |
Abstract
Background : depression and anxiety are common in patients with cancer, classical antidepressant has no proven efficacy on this type of distress compared to placebo. A Psilocybin (serotoninergic hallucinogen) based therapy appear to give promising results among recent studies. Aims : to examine if a Psilocybin based therapy could be considered for patients with cancer related depression and anxiety and to assume it's safety. To sum up Heffter institute work, as the main institute working on this topic. Method : following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta Analyses) guidelines, a systematic review was conducted, for quantitative and qualitative studies about psilocybin for treating cancer related depression and anxiety. Pubmed and the Heffter institute databases have been reached for this purpose, separating studies in types : qualitative or quantitative. We studied the effects on cancer related depression and anxiety separately and investigated the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms. Results : the four studies included a total of 105 randomized patients, meta analysis on depression and anxiety with pooled Peto odds ratio showed a significant superiority of Psilocybin over placebo. The substance appeared to be safe for this type of patients. Surprising psychological mechanisms hypothesis have been found out. Conclusion : psilocybin appear to be potentially useful as a treatment for cancer related depression and anxiety. Future research should verify these findings on wider population and eventually seek a way to apply therapy to non hospitalized (ambulatory) patients. Keywords : psilocybin, depression, anxiety, review, meta-analysis
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on psilocybin, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Therapeutic effects of classic serotonergic psychedelics: A systematic review of modern‐era clinical studies Patients with cancer- or illness-related anxiety and depression, major depressive... | 2020 | Systematic review | n = 188 |
| Blinding and expectancy confounds in psychedelic randomized controlled trials | 2021 | Systematic review | |
| Antidepressive, anxiolytic, and antiaddictive effects of ayahuasca, psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD): a systematic review of clinical trials published in the last 25 years Patients from included clinical trials | 2016 | Systematic review | |
| The experimental effects of psilocybin on symptoms of anxiety and depression: A meta-analysis People with elevated symptoms of anxiety and depression | 2020 | Meta-analysis | n = 117 |
| Default Mode Network Modulation by Psychedelics: A Systematic Review Participants from included studies | 2022 | Systematic review |