There psilocybin, Serotonin, a psychoactive molecule found in certain hallucinogenic mushrooms, may help some cancer patients. It belongs to the tryptamine family, molecules that act on serotonin receptors in the central nervous system. It acts as an agonist, meaning it takes the place of the messenger that normally activates the serotonin receptor.
Side effects occurring in 60% chemotherapy
But what does this have to do with chemotherapy? The drugs used in chemotherapy—taxanes, platinum group agents, and periwinkle alkaloids—block the transfer of mitochondria into neurons. As a result, the nerve endings degenerate, causing peripheral neuropathies.
The symptoms of this disease are very debilitating and painful. They include burning sensations, extreme sensitivity to cold, and tingling in the feet and hands. This type of side effect occurs in more than 60% of cases and can sometimes lead to the discontinuation of chemotherapy.
Psilocybin could be interesting because it activates a signaling lane which improves mitochondrial trafficking in neurons. Chemotherapy blocks this trafficking. Psilocybin therefore helps protect the nerve structure to prevent the toxicity of chemotherapy drugs.
Microdosing or analogues to avoid hallucinations
This treatment could be administered before chemotherapy without compromising the antitumor efficacy of the treatments. To avoid hallucinations associated with this psychoactive substance, it is possible to microdose the molecule. Non-psychedelic analogs, which activate the same protective pathway, are also under development. Currently, there is no preventive treatment validated by international guidelines for peripheral neuropathies.
The only available treatments are administered once the side effect is already present and act solely on the symptoms. For now, this discovery has been made in mice. The next step will be to test it in human clinical trials.
English 
French