A new analytical method using direct injection and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry can simultaneously measure 11 psychoactive compounds in ayahuasca, a plant-based Amazonian beverage used in traditional medicine and religious ceremonies. The technique uses a deuterated internal standard for accurate quantitation and requires only simple dilution of samples up to 200-fold, avoiding complex extraction steps. It shows high specificity, low detection and quantitation limits, and appears to eliminate matrix effects. The method was tested on three different ayahuasca preparations and is expected to aid clinical, ethnobotanical, and forensic studies.
Over the past 30 years, integrative oncology has made valuable advances: intravenous high-dose ascorbate has clinical applications with certain chemotherapies; whole-body, extracorporeal, and locoregional hyperthermia are used for solid tumors including brain tumors; PDL-1 testing and immunotherapies show excellent outcomes in a subgroup of cancer patients; tumor DNA sequencing, including circulating tumor DNA, enables personalized precision treatments; better understanding of glucose metabolism has led to therapies like intermittent fasting and metformin; medical cannabis helps with chemotherapy side effects and shows anti-proliferative promise; psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology has expanded understanding of tumorigenesis and holistic immune regulation; psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is gaining traction for cancer-related existential distress; spiritual health is now measurable with an NIH-validated scale; and mind-body therapies effectively reduce cancer-related distress.