Juan Antonio García-Carmona

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a side effect of platinum-based cancer treatments that affects more than 60 per cent of patients and causes pain, a burning sensation and numbness. The psychedelic compound psilocybin could help prevent it, according to researchers behind a study using mouse models published in Science. Two doses of psilocybin administered prior to treatment prevented peripheral neuropathy for up to six cycles of chemotherapy without reducing its anti-tumour effects. The author of another perspective article on this study, also in Science, states that “the challenge now is to translate this understanding of the underlying mechanisms into carefully designed clinical trials”.

Single and repeated intravenous ketamine infusions are effective in reducing suicidal and depressive symptoms in patients with an acute episode of major depression. These are the main conclusions of a systematic review and meta-analysis published today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, which also notes that long-term outcomes are not well established.

Individualised dosing of a synthetic inhalable formulation of mebufotenine, a psychedelic substance, led to improvements in depressive symptoms compared with placebo and was well tolerated. These are the results of a phase 2 clinical trial published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, which includes Spanish participation. According to the authors, this supports its potential as a novel, fast-acting treatment for treatment-resistant depression.

An oral formulation of risperidone could be administered weekly instead of daily to treat patients with schizophrenia with the same efficacy, according to a phase III clinical trial published in The Lancet Psychiatry. The study included 83 patients in the United States.