Serotonergic hallucinogenspsychedelics could be promising treatments for depressive and anxiety disorders in end-stage cancer.
In a recent issue of the BMC Psychiatry, the evidence of effectiveness of treatments for psychiatric conditions in end-stage cancer patients was reviewed (Johnson, 2018). The review was comprehensive, and included traditional and non-traditionalalternative treatments, including herbal medicines and spirituality. However, evidence showing that classic or serotonergic hallucinogenspsychedelics such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) could be effective treatments for depressive and anxiety disorders in end-stage cancer was not included. In this commentary, we expand the information available on the original article by briefly reviewing data from recent placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over clinical trials showing evidence that administration of single (or few) doses of LSD and psilocybin was associated with rapid and sustained reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms in patients with end-stage cancer and other life-threatening diseases (e.g., Bechterews disease, Parkinsons disease, Celiac disease). Since these substances seem to produce rapid and sustained therapeutic effects with single (or few) doses and well tolerated, large-scale, prospective, multi-site studies of end-stage cancer and classicalserotonergic hallucinogenspsychedelics should be performed to improve our understanding of the therapeutic potentials of these drugs and their use on clinical practice.