Stage IV cancer patients who suffer from anxiety may want to investigate a research study approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) taking place at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

The specific aim of the study is to learn whether the psychoactive drug, psilocybin, might be effective in reducing anxiety, depression and physical pain, and therefore improving quality of life for Stage IV cancer patients. Psilocybin is a novel agent that produces a profound alteration in a patient's state of consciousness.

The FDA recently approved a similar study at Harvard University to see whether the illegal drug ecstasy can ease the debilitating anxiety that patients with very advanced cancer feel as they face a terminal illness.

To learn more about the study, see the project web site at www.canceranxietystudy.org.

SOURCE:
Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (http://www.labiomed.org)