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Background: An advanced cancer diagnosis can be associated with a significant profile of distress. Psychedelic compounds have shown clinically significant effects in the treatment of psychological distress in patients with advanced-stage cancer. Given the challenges of delivering timely and effective intervention in the advanced cancer context, it is possible that an alternative, more pragmatic, approach lies in psychedelic 'microdosing'. Microdosing refers to repeated administration of psychedelics in sub-hallucinogenic doses. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a full-scale randomised controlled trial comparing psychedelic microdose-assisted-meaning-centred psychotherapy (PA-MCP) to standard meaning-centred psychotherapy (MCP) in New Zealand indigenous (Māori) and non-indigenous people with advanced cancer and symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Although MCP is a well-established psychotherapeutic treatment in advanced cancer populations, the potential efficacy and effectiveness of this therapy when delivered alongside a standardised microdose regimen of a psychedelic compound have not been investigated.
Methods: Participants with advanced-stage cancer and symptoms of anxiety and/or depression (N = 40; 20 Māori, 20 non-Māori) will be randomised under double-blind conditions to receive 7 sessions of MCP alongside 13 doses of either an LSD microdose (4-20 µg) (PA-MCP) or inactive placebo (placebo-MCP). The feasibility, acceptability, and safety of this intervention and physiological and psychological measures will be recorded at baseline, at each session of MCP, and at a 1-month and 6-month follow-up.
Discussion: Our findings will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of a larger randomised controlled trial and provide an initial indication of the potential benefits of psychedelic microdosing for psychological distress in advanced-stage indigenous and non-indigenous cancer patients.
Trial Registration: NZCTR, ACTRN12623000478617. Registered 11 May 2023. https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=385810&isReview=true .
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40814-024-01449-9 | DOI Listing |
Comput Biol Chem
September 2025
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida de Universidade, Taipa, Macao Special Administrative Region of China. Electronic address:
With the advancements of next-generation sequencing, publicly available pharmacogenomic datasets from cancer cell lines provide a handle for developing predictive models of drug responses and identifying associated biomarkers. However, many currently available predictive models are often just used as black boxes, lacking meaningful biological interpretations. In this study, we made use of open-source drug response data from cancer cell lines, in conjunction with KEGG pathway information, to develop sparse neural networks, K-net, enabling the prediction of drug response in EGFR signaling pathways and the identification of key biomarkers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pharmacol Exp Ther
August 2025
Animal Cancer Care and Research Program, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota; Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota; Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Center for Immunology
We evaluated the antitumor effects of remodeling the MC17 mouse sarcoma microenvironment (SME) by targeting urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR)- and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-expressing cells. Specifically, we used eBAT (a bispecific ligand-targeted toxin directed to EGFR and uPAR), and its mouse counterpart, meBAT, to ablate uPAR- and/or EGFR-expressing cells. We chose the MC17 model because the cells are resistant to eBAT, allowing us to exclusively evaluate the role of uPAR- and EGFR-expressing cells in the SME.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Immunol
September 2025
Department of Surgical Urology, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 185, Jiuqian Street, Changzhou, Jiangsu 213003, China. Electronic address:
The confirmed tumor-inhibitory effects of the 30 kDa Momordica anti-human immunodeficiency virus protein (MAP30) have yet to be complemented by an exploration into its mechanism of action on tumor development and metastasis. For this purpose, we delved into the intrinsic mechanism of MAP30 in bladder cancer (BC). Here, we demonstrated that MAP30 markedly suppressed the proliferation, migration, invasion, and angiogenic capabilities of human BC cells in vitro, and the tumor metastatic potential in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGastric Cancer
September 2025
Department of Medical Oncology, Qilu Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) play a pivotal role in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer (GC). However, the biomarkers used to predict ICI efficacy are limited due to their reliance on single or static tumor characteristics. This study aims to develop a machine learning (ML) model that incorporates dynamic changes in clinlabomics data to optimize the predictive accuracy of ICI efficacy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Case Rep
September 2025
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
BACKGROUND Pediatric sinonasal tumors are rare, accounting for about 4% of all pediatric head and neck neoplasms. Due to their nonspecific symptoms such as nasal obstruction, epistaxis, and facial pain, these tumors often present diagnostic challenges and lead to delays in managment. Early and accurate diagnosis is crucial to optimize clinical outcomes.
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