§ Claim under review · Health
"A new clinical trial is drawing attention to the potential of psilocybin... Researchers followed people with cancer who were experiencing depression after receiving a single supervised dose of psilocybin alongside psychotherapy. Nearly 50% remained in remission from depression about two years later, suggesting that the benefits may last much longer than expected in some patients."
Verdict
Mostly accurate
Confidence
HighSummary
This post is largely accurate. There is a real peer reviewed trial, published in the journal Cancer in June 2025, in which 30 cancer patients with major depression received one supervised 25 mg dose of psilocybin alongside individual and group therapy. At the two year follow up, 14 of the 28 remaining patients, or 50 percent, met the study's definition of sustained improvement and remission. The post is also responsible in stating that this does not mean mushrooms cure depression. However, it leaves out important context. The study had no placebo or control group, which means the improvement cannot be firmly attributed to psilocybin itself, and the sample was very small and from a single site. Most importantly, the paper reports that only 7 of the 28 patients, about 25 percent, kept the benefit without taking antidepressants or a second psychedelic treatment during the follow up period, so the clean "one dose lasted two years" picture applies to fewer people than the post implies. The results are also not new, and a randomized placebo controlled trial testing this properly is still underway.
The readings
key figures from the evidenceaverage MADRS depression score reduction from baseline
Why this verdict
Evidence
The underlying study is real and the headline number is accurate. A phase 2 trial tested a single dose of psilocybin combined with psychological support in a community cancer setting in 30 patients with cancer and major depressive disorder, and the paper reports efficacy outcomes at two years' follow-up. Of 28 patients, 15 (53.6%) demonstrated significant reduction in depression as measured by the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (average −15.0 points from baseline; p < .001), and 14 (50%) had sustained depression reduction.
Thirteen patients (46.4%) experienced significant reduction in anxiety on the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (average −13.9 points from baseline, p < .001), and 12 (42.9%) had sustained anxiety reduction.
The single most important detail omitted from the viral post appears in the paper itself: twenty-five percent (seven patients) experienced sustained reduction in depression at 24 months from a single psilocybin dose without any additional psychedelic or antidepressant treatments; among the others, 25% (seven) received antidepressants after psilocybin and three of those received a second psychedelic treatment.
Findings
✓ What's accurate 6
- The trial exists, is peer reviewed, and was published in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society.
- The population is correctly described: people with cancer who had major depressive disorder.
- The intervention is correctly described: a single supervised dose of psilocybin combined with psychotherapy, in a controlled medical setting.
- The 50% remission-at-two-years figure is accurate and matches the primary source. "Nearly 50%" slightly understates it; it was exactly 14 of 28, or 50%.
- The post's cautions are accurate and unusually responsible: it explicitly says this does not mean mushrooms cure depression, notes the controlled setting, notes risks, and notes legal status.
- A randomized, double-blind trial is currently evaluating up to two doses of 25 mg psilocybin versus placebo for depression and anxiety in patients with cancer , so the post's statement that research continues is correct.
≈ What's misleading 7
- Omitted qualifier (most significant): The post attributes two-year remission to "a single supervised dose." The paper reports that only 7 of 28 patients (25%) sustained the benefit at 24 months without any additional antidepressant or psychedelic treatment. The other half of the 50% group received antidepressants after psilocybin, and three received a second psychedelic treatment. The clean "one dose, two years" framing therefore applies to roughly a quarter of participants, not half.
- Omitted qualifier: No control group and open-label design. Every participant knew they received psilocybin. Improvement cannot be causally separated from placebo response, natural course of depression, cancer treatment outcomes, or the substantial therapy component.
- Omitted qualifier: Very small sample. Thirty enrolled, 28 analyzed, single site. One or two patients shift the percentage by several points.
- Temporal framing: "A new clinical trial" is inaccurate as of the post date. The two-year results were published in June 2025, and the dosing itself occurred in 2020 and 2021.
- Population mismatch in the closing line: the post ends by framing this as hope for "treatment-resistant depression," but participants in this trial were required to not be taking antidepressants at screening and were not characterized as treatment resistant. This is a different population from the treatment-resistant depression trials.
- Omitted context: partial industry funding by Compass Pathways and author ties to the sponsor.
- Survivorship: two participants died before the 24-month assessment and were excluded from the denominator.
? What's uncertain 4
- Whether the post is referring to this specific 2025 paper cannot be confirmed from the post itself, because it cites no source, no journal, no author, and no date. The numbers and description match the Agrawal et al. Cancer paper closely enough that no other candidate study was found, but the attribution is inferred, not stated.
- Whether "remission" in the post means the paper's MADRS ≤ 10 definition. The post does not define it. The match is presumed.
- Long-term outcomes beyond 24 months for this cohort were not found.
- Whether the ongoing randomized placebo-controlled follow-on trial will replicate these results is unknown. Results were not located.
Sources
4 of 6 linked to recordsAgrawal M, et al. "Long-term benefits of single-dose psilocybin in depressed patients with cancer." Cancer (American Cancer Society), published 16 June 2025
Agrawal M, et al. "Psilocybin-assisted group therapy in patients with cancer diagnosed with a major depressive disorder." Cancer, 2024 (the parent trial)
Wiley / ScienceDaily press release, 16 June 2025
Medscape, "One Psilocybin Dose Eases Cancer Depression Over Long Term," 19 June 2025
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05947383 (Sunstone follow-on randomized trial)
Sunstone Therapies research page