Cannabinoids is a “No-Go” While a Cancer Patient is on Immunotherapy; but is It Safe to Use Psychedelics During Cancer Immunotherapy?

Psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin, increasingly used by cancer patients to relieve anxiety and depression, may interfere with immune-based cancer treatments like immune checkpoint inhibitors. Preclinical data suggest that consuming psychedelics during such therapy could negatively impact tumor growth and diminish the therapeutic benefits of immune checkpoint inhibitors. The authors call for further research to validate these findings, given the rising use of cannabinoids and psychedelics among cancer patients receiving immune-based treatments.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract The use of Psychedelics by patients with cancer to relieve anxiety and depression has increased in the past few years. Since Psychedelics have immunomodulatory effects, their consumption among cancer patients should be carefully considered due to their potential negative effects on the tumor immune stroma, especially in view of the increase in the utilization of therapeutic approaches that are based on immune activation such as treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Preclinical data provided in this report indicate a potentially negative impact on tumor growth as a result of Psychedelics consumption during treatment with ICIs. Furthermore, our research suggests that the use of psychedelic agents (Lysergic acid diethylamide [LSD] or Psylocibin) might diminish the beneficial therapeutic benefits of ICIs. It might be necessary to expend this line of research in order to validate these findings, in view of the increase use of cannabinoids and psychedelics among cancer patients, some of them being treated with immune-based modalities.