Author: Nancy Meredith
Psilocybin Can Have “Profound” Impact on Managing Anxiety and Depression in Mesothelioma Patients
Many mesothelioma patients face a bleak prognosis, with survival often less than 18 months. They often become overwhelmed and depressed as they fight to improve their survival, but are forced to face their mortality at the same time. Now, researchers say the use of psilocybin, an hallucinogen found in magic mushrooms, may help improve a cancer patient’s outlook and can lead to “profound and enduring mental health benefits.”
The Journal of Psychopharmacology announced in an editorial of its special December issue that two of the “most rigorous controlled trials to date using the psychedelic drug psilocybin” found one “psychedelic experience” could bring significant relief to cancer patients suffering from anxiety and depression. In an overwhelmingly positive response to the studies by countless psychiatric organizations, the consensus is, “it’s time to take psychedelic treatments in psychiatry and oncology seriously, as we did in the 1950s and 1960s, which means we need to go back to the future,” according to the editorial by David Nutt, Imperial College London.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine conducted a trial in 51 cancer patients with life-threatening diagnoses and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. They found that patients who received a “high-dose” of psilocybin had “large” drops in feelings of depression and anxiety as well in death anxiety. In addition, they saw an increase in their quality of life and optimism. Nearly 80% of the patients reported a “moderately or greater increased well-being/life satisfaction.”
CNN reports in a Dec. 1 article that one patient who was suffering from metastatic endometrial cancer participated in the Johns Hopkins trial. After receiving a single dose of psilocybin during the study, she said, “it was kind of magic. As I took it, the cloud of doom seemed to just lift. From then on, I was fine.” The woman had seen little to no improvement in her depression when taking prescription anti-depressants prior to the trial.
Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer of the lining of the lungs, abdomen or heart caused by past exposure to asbestos. Nearly 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with the cancer each year. Research has shown that patients who focus on the power of the mind-body connection and choose to be optimistic and positive will realize a higher quality of life and may respond better to treatments. However, some patients need an effective medicine to lift their spirits when depression has taken hold.
In the second study led by the New York University School of Medicine, the team took a group of 29 patients with cancer-related anxiety and depression. After just a single-dose of psilocybin, the patients experienced “immediate, substantial, and sustained improvements in anxiety and depression,” as well an increase in their spiritual wellbeing and their quality of life. After 6.5 months, the patients had “sustained benefits in existential distress and quality of life, as well as improved attitudes towards death.”
Various studies have been conducted that show positive thinking results in the improvement in a patient’s health. Many physicians believe that when there is an improvement in a patient’s mood and outlook on the illness the patient can recover more quickly from surgery and other treatments. When feeling better emotionally, mesothelioma patients may see an improvement in their energy levels, mental acuity, sleep patterns and breathing even while undergoing treatments.
The results led researchers to conclude that, along with psychotherapy, psilocybin may be a quick, effective and lasting treatment for patients with cancer-related psychological distress.
It is important to note that these studies were conducted in medical settings and the treatment was highly controlled. More research needs to be conducted, and, according to the researchers, this type of treatment will more than likely always be given in a medical facility and not released to patients.
“Hopefully, the positive findings that they report will act to spur on other researchers in the field of psychopharmacology, particularly in relation to depression, anxiety and addiction,” said Nutt.
Sources:
- Journal of Psychopharmacology
http://jop.sagepub.com/content/30/12/1163.full.pdf+html - Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
http://jop.sagepub.com/content/30/12/1181.abstract - CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/23/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays - New York University School of Medicine
http://jop.sagepub.com/content/30/12/1165.abstract
Steps you Need to Follow If You Have Been Exposed to Asbestos
Whether you are a Navy veteran who frequently worked around asbestos in a shipyard or a former factory worker tasked with making asbestos products, you should be vigilant in monitoring the dangerous effects this exposure could have on your health as you age.
Mesothelioma, a deadly cancer whose only known cause is asbestos, can develop up to 60 years after a person was exposed to the toxic material.
If you or a loved one has been exposed to asbestos, use this infographic to determine the steps you should take to get the help you need.
Contact an Experienced Mesothelioma Attorney to Discuss Your Options for Filing an Asbestos Claim.
Because asbestos is the only known cause of mesothelioma, if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with this debilitating cancer, you may be entitled to compensation from the asbestos companies that put you in harm’s way.
Contact us today to learn more about your legal options for pursuing compensation.
Anti-Cancer Drug Found Effective in Rare Cancers Could Be Used as Mesothelioma Treatment
The ability to halt the growth of mesothelioma cancer cells, and to kill the cells, often relies on finding a drug that can inhibit the cells’ ability to communicate. Cells communicate via complex signalling pathways, and finding the right one to focus on can mean the difference in survival in patients. Now, researchers report that the Notch signalling pathway may be the key to stopping cancer growth in rare cancers, such as mesothelioma.
Patients with a wide range of cancers who had mutations of the Notch protein were selected for a study conducted by researchers from the Institut Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus in France. They focused on the Notch signalling pathway because of its role in driving cancer cells to grow, divide, and spread throughout the body. In addition, they report the Notch pathway plays a role in growth of new blood vessels that feed tumor growth and helps cancers become chemo-resistant. The pathway uses four Notch proteins that transfer messages across the cell membrane.
Expert Insight
Dr. Christophe Massard
“One of the interesting results with implications for some patients is that the drug was active against rare cancers such as adenoid cystic carcinoma.”
When the patients in the Phase I clinical trial were given LY3039478, a novel and potent Notch inhibitor, some of the patients experienced tumor shrinkage, disease stabilization and no further progression. These results were also seen in the rare cancer, adenoid cystic carcinoma.
“The results from this phase I trial prove that LY3039478 has the effect on tumours that was expected, by inhibiting the Notch signalling and thereby preventing cancer cell growth and proliferation,” said Dr. Christophe Massard, senior medical oncology consultant and chair of the Early Drug Development program at Gustave Roussy.
Pleural mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer caused by exposure to airborne asbestos fibers. The cancer, that affects just 3,000 Americans each year, is highly aggressive and is resistant to many current treatments. Care often follows the same protocol as lung cancer. Currently, there is no known cure for mesothelioma, but research such as this brings hope to the mesothelioma community that an effective treatment is on the horizon.
The trial results were presented at the 28th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Munich, Germany.
21st Century Cures Act Could Get Effective Mesothelioma Drugs to Patients Faster
In October, MesotheliomaHelp reported on the millions of dollars allocated through the 2017 Defense Appropriations Bill for research into mesothelioma and other cancers. Now, through the 21st Century Cures Act, the U.S. government has allocated billions more to ensure Americans have the resources necessary to target many of the top medical issues today.
In a Nov. 30 press release from The White House, the Press Secretary reports that in addition to monies set aside to respond to the growing heroin and prescription opioid epidemic, to improve mental health, and to tackle Alzheimer’s, nearly $5 billion has been allocated to fight cancer. This includes $1.8 billion in new resources to transform cancer research and accelerate discoveries towards the Moonshot Initiative, and close to $3 billion towards the President’s Precision Medicine Initiatives, among other initiatives to improve health.
“This bill makes desperately needed changes to bring our laws into a modern era of medicine and to keep our nation at the forefront of health care innovation, by streamlining regulation to deliver new therapies to all patients,” said Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade in a Nov. 30 press release announcing the passage.
A statement from the Energy and Commerce Committee announced, “The House again overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century Cures Act on November 30, 2016. Next Stop: U.S. Senate.”
Expert Insight
“The 21st Century Cures Act: An innovation game-changer, a once-in-a-generation, transformational opportunity to change the way we treat disease.”
According to the Energy & Commerce Committee, the Act helps advance new therapies for patients by:
- Modernizing clinical trials and the means by which safety and efficacy data is accumulated and analyzed.
- Supporting broader, more collaborative development, qualification, and utilization of biomarkers, which help assess how a therapy is working, and on whom, earlier in the process.
- Streamlining regulations and provides more clarity and consistency for innovators developing health software and mobile medical apps, combination products, vaccines, and regenerative medicine therapies.
- Providing FDA with $500 million for regulatory modernization and give the agency the ability to recruit and retain the best and brightest scientists, doctors, and engineers.
“With today’s overwhelming bipartisan vote, we took a giant leap forward on the #Path2Cures,” said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), co-authors of the bill on Nov. 30. “21st Century Cures is the innovation game-changer that patients, their loved ones, and the nation’s researchers and scientists so desperately need. The White House has expressed its enthusiastic endorsement of this critical legislation.”
Mesothelioma is diagnosed in close to 3,000 Americans each year. There is no cure for the asbestos-caused cancer and survival is often less than 18 months after diagnosis. Many patients turn to clinical trials after all other treatments have failed, but trial regulations slow the lab-to-patient process considerably, preventing the majority of patients from accessing new drugs.
The 21st Century Cures Act aims to change this by streamlining clinical trials, providing more resources to support cutting-edge research, and helping young researchers.
Sources:
- The White House
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/11/30/statement-press-secretary-hr-34-21st-century-cures-act - Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
https://energycommerce.house.gov/news-center/press-releases/breaking-game-changer-curesnow-passes-house - Congressman Michael C. Burgess
http://burgess.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398210
Targeting the “Cellular Post Office” May Halt Mesothelioma Growth
One of the most critical breakthroughs needed to slow the number of patients dying from aggressive cancers, including lung cancer and mesothelioma, is to find an effective way to stop the cancer cells from dividing and migrating to other organs. Once cancer metastasizes, the battle to save the patient is significantly more challenging. Now, researchers from England and the U.S. have joined forces to find a way to stop this cancer growth, and they report that it is the “cellular post office” that should be targeted.
Researchers at the University of York and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center came together to find a way to halt the growth of lung cancer by looking at a key line of communication among cancer cells. The “cellular post office,” or the Golgi apparatus, gathers proteins into a ‘package’ (vesicles) and transports them to areas outside of the cells, thus allowing cancer to metastasize and grow.
The researchers identified two proteins, PAQR111 and Zeb1, that communicate allowing the cancer cells to break free from the lungs and travel throughout the body. The communication takes place in the Golgi, according to a Nov. 24 press release from the University of York.
“Now that we recognise this system, there is the potential to develop a drug that interferes with this communication and prevents the Golgi apparatus from facilitating the movement of the membrane sacks,” said Dr. Daniel Ungar, from the University of York’s Department of Biology, in a Nov. 24 press release from the University of York.
Pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by past asbestos exposure, is one cancer that is highly aggressive and spreads quickly to other sites. Survival is typically one year after diagnosis. Research shows that metastasis is the cause of nearly 90 percent of cancer deaths, making it critically important that researchers fully understand how to stop metastasis to increase survival in mesothelioma patients.
See the Nov. 21 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation for the full study.
Free Mesothelioma Patient & Treatment Guide
We’d like to offer you our in-depth guide, “A Patient’s Guide to Mesothelioma,” absolutely free of charge.
It contains a wealth of information and resources to help you better understand the condition, choose (and afford) appropriate treatment, and exercise your legal right to compensation.
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