Moran Amit, a surgeon-scientist at the Department of Genomic Medicine at the University of Texas (UT) MD Anderson Cancer Center, couldn’t believe what a researcher from his team, who studied the effects of psilocybin on animals, had just observed.
The animals that were given psilocybin before chemotherapy treatment didn’t develop neuropathy, a common and debilitating side effect of many chemotherapy drugs. After asking the researcher to repeat the treatment with different types of chemotherapy and treatment lengths, the results held up. “This is unparalleled,” noted Amit in a news briefing.
The psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, mostly known for its potential to treat major mental health and behavioral disorders, like depression, anxiety, and PTSD, may one day be used to prevent chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), one of the most irritating side effects of chemotherapy, according to researchers from UT MD Anderson. They report in their study, published in Science, how only two doses of psilocybin given prior to chemotherapy treatment could prevent CIPN in mice while maintaining tumor-killing effects.
“By establishing therapies that protect nerve integrity at the cellular level,” said study co-author Z-Hye Lee, an assistant professor at UT MD Anderson in the news briefing, “we now open avenues to potentially mitigate chronic pain issues, and also to better restore a patient's sense of well-being.”
Explore All OptionsChemotherapy Can Cause Nerve Damage
Unfortunately, most chemotherapy drugs don’t work very selectively and also impact healthy cells alongside cancer cells, their intended target. Besides hair loss, digestive problems, and fatigue, nerve damage is a common side effect of many chemotherapy agents.
“Every single one of the most common chemotherapy drugs that is given for all the most common cancers cause peripheral neuropathy in patients,” said study co-author Patrick Dougherty, professor of cancer research at UT MD Anderson, in the briefing. “They can't tell where their fingers and feet are, putting them at risk of falls.”
Some patients develop such severe pain and discomfort that potentially lifesaving cancer treatment needs to be interrupted or even stopped. Regardless of how common this side effect is, there are currently no strategies that can substantially mitigate the discomfort, according to a press release.
“About two out of three patients will develop some sort of a neuropathic pain that will require either dose adjustments or even treatment breaks. That's going to negatively affect survival,” explained Amit.
Psilocybin May Prevent Neural Damage
Inspired by previous research on how CIPN may unfold through errors in important cell organelles, called mitochondria, and psilocybin delivering neural changes through a receptor that also influences mitochondrial function, a theory emerged that psilocybin may reshape neurons in a way that could make them more resilient to nerve damage.
Now, in their study, they demonstrated how mice with cancer undergoing platinum- and taxane-based chemotherapy didn’t develop CIPN when psilocybin was administered before treatment, and the effects prevailed for up to six cycles of chemo treatment without impacting the drug's effectiveness.
“[The finding] pushes the needle beyond the canonical indications of psychedelics like depression, addiction, anxiety, PTSD. For the first time, we're looking at pain, a somatic symptom, and we're actually showing a really significant efficacy, not in treating that, but in preventing that,” summarized Amit.
Next Steps Are Clinical Trials
Lee summarized that their research demonstrates that supporting mitochondria in nerve cells opens pathways for recovery from injury, stress, and degeneration.
“This can really be potentially translated to treating a broader spectrum of nerve injuries and enhancing nerve recovery, especially in the oncologic setting,” added Lee.
The next steps are to move from this proof-of-concept study to clinical trials to confirm if these findings could also be relevant for humans, for chemotherapy-induced neuropathy or even broader applications in chronic pain management.
This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
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Article Sources
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- This article references information from a study published in Science: Psilocybin prevents chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy through mitochondrial trafficking preservation
