Nearly 40 percent of people with lung cancer experience depression, often alongside anxiety, hopelessness, and difficult questions about mortality — and treatment for that psychological burden has changed comparatively little even as cancer care itself has advanced. Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC – James) and Ohio State’s Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education are now running a randomized clinical trial testing whether psilocybin-assisted therapy can ease that depression and emotional distress, in what they describe as the first such trial focused specifically on lung cancer patients.
Psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms, is administered in the trial within a controlled medical setting under trained therapists, not taken independently. Participants undergo roughly eight hours of preparation with two therapists before a single supervised psilocybin dose during a daylong session, followed by structured counseling. The researchers are also examining whether the compound affects inflammation, though they caution that this line of inquiry needs considerably more research before any conclusions can be drawn.
Co-principal investigators Alan Davis and Theodore Wagener say the approach is aimed at psychological challenges that standard cancer care doesn’t fully address — anxiety, existential distress, and guilt tied to stigma around the diagnosis. Davis pointed to growing evidence that psilocybin-assisted therapy may help relieve depression in people facing serious illness. Wagener put the gap in blunter terms: cancer care has advanced substantially, he said, but treatment for the depression, anxiety, and distress that often accompanies it has not kept pace.
Participant Betty Paschall, who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, described severe depression before joining the study. Afterward, she said, she re-engaged with activities and relationships she had stopped, a change her family noticed as well. The researchers are careful to note that the therapy remains experimental, is not appropriate for every patient, and is administered only under close medical supervision after careful screening — but they hope a successful trial will help identify which patients benefit most and support larger studies down the line.
Institution: The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC – James)
Publication Date: September 28, 2026
Source: EurekAlert