Psilocybin prevents chemo nerve damage in mice — SkimNews
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- Psilocybin prevented nerve damage in mice with abdominal tumors that received cisplatin chemotherapy, with psilocybin-treated mice responding similarly to a cancer-only control group in pain-sensitivity tests using a thin plastic filament.
- Psilocin — psilocybin's active metabolite — activates the 5HT2A receptor, which sends molecular signals that preserve mitochondrial transport in nerve endings disrupted when chemotherapy drugs damage microtubules.
- University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center team confirmed the nerve-protective effect in human neurons treated with psilocybin before cisplatin exposure.
- Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) affects about 75% of cancer patients, with no drug previously shown to prevent it — duloxetine, the standard treatment, only provides moderate pain relief after the fact.
- Researchers are launching a randomized controlled trial in November with roughly 80 patients with breast, colorectal, or head and neck cancer, testing two psilocybin doses before chemotherapy; results are expected in about five years.
- Team members warned cancer patients against self-medicating with psilocybin, noting it hasn't been proven safe during chemotherapy and can interact dangerously with cancer medications.
Why it matters: If a randomized controlled trial confirms the preclinical results, psilocybin could become the first drug to prevent CIPN — a side effect hitting roughly 75% of chemotherapy patients and forcing dose reductions or treatment interruptions that compromise cancer outcomes. The five-year timeline means oncologists won't have an answer soon, but the mechanism (preserving mitochondrial transport via 5HT2A) gives researchers a concrete biological target.
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