Carlson will co-lead CAN-PACT (Canadian Network for Psychedelic-Assisted Cancer Therapy), a Canadian research group evaluating the efficacy of psychedelics for alleviating suffering, managing symptoms like anxiety or depression and improving quality of life. More than $5 million in funding is being provided by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) Breakthrough Team Grants, with support from Brain Canada.
"The CAN-PACT research program has the potential to be transformative, providing us with an opportunity to better understand the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted cancer therapy and establish research evidence that has nationwide reach," says Carlson.
She says the program will bring together people living with cancer and their caregivers, health-care providers, researchers and policymakers over the next five years. They aim to train more psychosocial and palliative care clinicians to deliver psychedelic-assisted therapies for cancer treatment to improve access for those in need, assess the efficacy through a multi-site randomized controlled clinical trial, and engage policymakers in the necessary regulatory changes to increase access.
"Ultimately, our vision is to increase the available treatment options for individuals with advanced cancer and offer them, and their caregivers, relief from existential suffering," she says.
Drs. Ronald Shore, PhD, and Harriet Richardson, PhD, of Queen’s University are co-principal investigators. UCalgary research collaborators in CAN-PACT include Drs. Simon Colgan, MD, Lyle Galloway, MD, Jessica Simon, MD as well as trainees Dr. Julie Deleemans, PhD’22, Haley Schuman and Jamie Petersson. The team consists or researchers from British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick.
The research in Calgary will take place in the integrative oncology space of the new the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
Late-stage cancer is defined as being in Stage 3 or 4 of disease, meaning cancer has spread beyond initial site, either locally or to other organs throughout the body. The CCS estimates 40 per cent of cancer cases being treated in Canada are in Stages 3 or 4. Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Canada, with nearly 240,000 new diagnoses and an estimated 87,000 deaths in 2023 alone.
CCS has been a longstanding UCalgary partner and supporter of its cancer research for more than three decades.
