Magic mushroom therapy aims to ease cancer Patients' fear and sadness
NCT ID NCT07336238
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jul 31, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tests whether a group retreat using psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) can safely reduce anxiety and depression in people with incurable cancer. Participants will receive a pharmaceutical-grade psilocybin along with guided discussions to help them gain new perspectives. The goal is to relieve emotional suffering when standard treatments are no longer working.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 18 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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May 2026
- Expected to finish
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May 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 85 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * A diagnosis of metastatic solid tumor, or incurable hematologic malignancy that has been accepted by a physician in a medical record * Measurable disease is not required * Previous treatment with chemotherapy: There are no minimum or maximum prior lines of chemotherapy * 18-85 years of age * Required performance status, including the appropriate scale. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 0-2 * Hematocrit \> 20 * Platelets (plt) \> 20K * Liver function tests 1.5 x normal * Creatinine 1.5 x normal * Subjects of childbearing potential must be willing to use an effective contraceptive method from study enrollment until at least 1 month after receiving the investigational agent(s) * Must be at least 4 weeks after surgery or radiotherapy at study entry, but can be receiving oral or intravenous (IV) chemotherapy if those schedules can be adjusted around the medication session date * Motivated to participate in a group study and able in the research team's judgment to participate in the small group effectively * On pre-enrollment screening tests, they will have clinically significant anxiety or depressive symptoms as defined by a score of 11 or greater on the Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS)-total * English speaking - able to understand the process of consent and the risk and benefits associated with the study, and able to give written informed consent. This is a phase 2a study, and if future larger studies are designed, consideration will be given for non-english-speaking subjects * Must be willing to sign a medical release for the investigators to communicate directly with their treating clinicians (mental health professional or oncologist) and doctors to confirm a medication and/or medical history * Must provide at least one adult who is in contact with the participant at least once a day when the participant is at home who is able to verbally monitor participant-reported changes in their behavior and able to notify research staff of behavior changes that may require research staff assessment * Must provide a review of any antidepressant (such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (\[SSRI)\], serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor \[SNRI\]) use * Must avoid taking any psychiatric medications or starting a new psychiatric medication during the study. Should participant's doctor recommend starting a new psychiatric medication, participant will be required to notify the study team and the subject would withdraw from the study. (Use of as needed \[prn\] benzodiazepines is allowed but high dose chronic benzodiazepine use must be reviewed by the principal investigator \[PI\]. Use of prn gabapentoids is allowed but high dose chronic gabapentoid use must be reviewed by the PI.) * Must provide a contact (relative, spouse, close friend, or other caregiver) who is willing and able to be reached by the research team in the event that the participant becomes suicidal * If the potential participant is of childbearing potential, they must have a negative pregnancy test at baseline and prior to the medication dosing session, and must agree to use highly effective birth control. Highly effective birth control is defined as birth control methods, alone or in combination, that result in a low failure rate (i.e., less than 1 percent per year, which does NOT include condoms or abstinence * Are willing to commit to preparation sessions, medication dosing sessions, integration sessions, to complete evaluation instruments and commit to be contacted for all necessary telephone contacts Exclusion Criteria: * Brain metastases that have not been treated * Uncontrolled or concurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * Pregnancy, breastfeeding, or expecting to conceive or father children for the duration of the trial through 30 days after receipt of investigational agent(s) * Personal or immediate family history of schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, delusion disorder, paranoid disorder, or schizoaffective disorder * Suicidal ideation with a Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) measurement of 'low risk' or no risk * Current substance abuse disorder (although prospective subjects will not be excluded for reasonable alcohol use that does not meet criteria for alcohol use disorder or marijuana use that does not meet criteria for substance use disorder) * Unstable neurological or medical condition; history of seizure, chronic/severe headaches * Any use of psychedelic drugs in high doses (psilocybin \> 2 grams of dried mushrooms, lysergic acid diethylamide \[LSD\] \> 200 micrograms) within the prior 3 months (microdosing will not require exclusion but participants would have to agree to discontinue microdosing 1 month before study entry) * Use of tramadol, due to the potential for serotonin syndrome with concomitant use of psilocybin * Individuals who are on MAOI (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) or who have a known sensitivity to the drug or its metabolites. Psilocybin is contraindicated in medications that are known UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzyme modulators * Baseline prolongation of QT/corrected QT (QTc) interval (e.g., demonstration on a 12-lead electrocardiogram \[ECG\] of a QTc interval \> 450 milliseconds \[ms\]) * A history of additional risk factors for Torsade de Points (including but not limited to: heart failure, hypokalemia, family history of Long QT Syndrome) * The use of concomitant medications that prolong the QT/QTc interval * Any history of cardiovascular disease such as history of myocardial infarction or congestive heart failure or cardiac arrhythmia * Concomitant use of efavirenz (an antiviral) which cannot be tapered * Concomitant use of serotonin-acting supplements due to their potential for interaction with psilocybin, including 5-HTP, St John's Wort, and 'brain food' supplements
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium
Seattle, Washington, 98109, United States
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