Mistletoe Therapy
Mistletoe (also known as Viscum album) is one of the most widely used unconventional cancer treatments in Europe. Results of a national survey conducted in Germany in l995 by the Society for Biologic Cancer Defense found that mistletoe preparations were the most frequently prescribed biologic drug (80%) followed by trace elements, vitamins, enzymes, and xenogenic (tissues from other species) peptides like thymus preparations.
Another survey of 125 hospitalized cancer patients in two clinics found that 90 (72%) had used unconventional methods and that the most frequently used unconventional therapy was mistletoe (43.2%) followed by immune stimulants, vitamins, and trace elements9. The German Cancer Information service in Heidelberg reports that about 20% of their estimated 60,000 calls over the past 6 years are about unconventional therapies, and that 23.9% of the queries in one series of documented calls were about mistletoe.
Mistletoe extract has been in the news in North America since actress Suzanne Somers announced that she is using it as an adjunctive therapy to fight breast cancer following lumpectomy and radiation. Some medical experts have claimed that there is no scientific evidence to support taking this natural approach.
However, a major groundbreaking study was published in the May issue of the peer-reviewed journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. The study showed that individuals who took mistletoe extract in addition to their standard medical treatment for cancer lived 40% longer.
This work followed 35,000 participants for over thirty years. Of the 35,000 patients studied, 5,000 developed cancer. A rigorous design with 300 pairs matched for tumor type, stage and conventional treatment received, demonstrated that those cancer patients who also had mistletoe showed 40% longer survival. Other studies confirmed low toxicity and favorable impact on the patients' quality of life.
Research indicates that mistletoe extract is most effective when used in conjunction with standard medical cancer care for the treatment of solid tumors such as breast, liver, and colon cancers.
Published Research
Treatment of Liver Metastases from Various Primary Tumors with Helixor
Boie, D., Gutsch, J., Burkhardt, R. Therapiewoche 31, 11, 1981, 1865 - 1869
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Aim |
To prove statistically the increased survival of Helixor patients compared with untreated patients. |
| Patients and Methods | 69 non-selected patients with liver metastases from various primary tumors were compared in their therapy results with a non-treated collective of 390 patients from the literature using 7 prognostic criterias. |
| Results | Within defined time-periods, the rate of mortality between the two groups differed significantly (p = 0.000,000,8) and assess for the efficacy of the treatment. The median survival time (8.1 months) in Helixor-treated patients was 3 times higher than that of the untreated group (2.5 months). The Helixor group had a 2.6 % higher level of squameous cell and dedifferentiated carcinomas and an almost 14.2 % lower level of well differentiated adenocarcinoma. These facts suggested an initially poorer prognosis for patients in the Helixor group and confirm the positive result of this study. |
| Conclusions | The survival time of Helixor patients was 3 times longer than that of untreated patients compared from the literature. The good tolerance of Helixor strengthens its indication for use even in far advanced stages of cancer. |
Helixor in Cancer of Colon and Rectum
Boie, D., Gutsch, J. Schriftenreihe Krebsgeschehen: Kolo-rektale Tumoren. Hrsg.: H. Denck u. K. Karrer, Bd. 23, 1980, 65 - 76
| Aim | To prove statistically that Helixor treated patients have a higher survival rate, a longer median survival time and a lower rate of liver metastases than untreated patients. | ||||
| Patients | 64 patients with inoperable rectum (n = 27) and colon cancer (n = 37) were treated with Helixor in comparison with 39 untreated patients with rectum cancer of the same centre and 177 untreated patients with colon and rectum cancer from the literature. Additionally, the frequency of liver metastases was compared in both groups. | ||||
| Methods | Both the treated and untreated patients were evaluated by 9 prognostic parameters in order to check the comparability of both groups. The survival time was evaluated using statistical testing. | ||||
| Results |
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| Conclusions | In cases of liver metastases, the one-year survival rate of the Helixor group was significantly higher (58.6 %) (p<0.005) than that of the untreated control group (20 %). Last but not least, 74 % of the Helixor group reported a substantial improvement in well-being. In inoperable colon or rectum cancer Helixor treatment can increase survival rate, prolong survival time and especially improve survival rate in cases of liver metastases. The result was all the more surprising due to the prognostic handicap of the Helixor group. In order to improve life-quality, Helixor should also be used in advanced stages of cancer. |
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The treament of patients with chronic myelocytic leukaemia with the mistletoe preparation Helixor
Boie, D., Gutsch, J. Arztezeitschrift fur Naturheilverfahren 9, 1982, 523 - 544
| Aim | To evaluate the benefit of an additive Helixor treatment using survival time as an indicator. |
| Patients | 30 patients with CML were treated with Helixor. In 27 cases it was in combination with chemotherapy (Busulfan). |
| Methods | Due to the lack of an own untreated control group, a historic patient group from the world-literature was taken for comparison with the Helixor group. By analyzing the prognostic factors, classification and selection of the patients, the two groups were found to be comparable. |
| Results | The median survival time of Helixor patients was 55.7 months. In contrast, the comparison group, treated with chemotherapy alone, showed a survival time of 30 months. The result was relevant due to the fact that the Helixor group was handicapped prognostically. In addition a few interesting single cases are presented chronologically. |
| Conclusions | Chemotherapy does not cure CML and bearly increases survival time. Helixor, on the other hand, given in addition to chemotherapy, can increase survival time significantly. In single cases, when Helixor alone was administered, a favourable effect was observed. A stimulation of leukaemic cells due to Helixor was never noticed. |
Prospective study in radically operated breast cancer with polychemotherapy, Helixor and untreated control
Gutsch, J., Berger, H., Scholz, G., Denck, H. Deutsche Zeitschrift fur Onkologie 21, 4, 1988, 94 - 101
| Aim | To evaluate the benefit of different adjuvant therapies after radical mastectomy through registration of the survival rates. | ||||||||||||||||
| Patients and Methods | After undergoing radical mastectomy, 643 female patients were separated into 3 therapeutic groups in a multicentric prospective study. | ||||||||||||||||
| Results |
The comparison of survival rates after 5 years shows a significant difference between the patient groups treated with Helixor or chemotherapy and the control (p = 0.037).
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| Conclusions | The postoperative adjuvant therapy of breast cancer with Helixor is useful because survival rate is increased significantly, comparable to adjuvant chemotherapy lack of toxicity guarantees a favourable risk/benefit relationship. | ||||||||||||||||
The treatment of operated gastric cancer at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Clinical Oncology
Salzer, G., Frey, S., Danmayr, E. Deutsche Zeitschrift fur Onkologie 22, 1990, 21 - 25
| Aim | To prove prolonged survival time in adjuvantly treated patients compared with that of untreated patients. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Patients |
In a retrospective controlled study 421 patients with operated gastric cancer were divided into 3 therapy groups:
For evaluation, patients were divided into 3 prognostic groups:
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| Results |
After treatment with mistletoe, the cases with negative lymph nodes showed a prolongation of median survival time by 20 months compared to those treated by surgery only. The chemotherapy group showed a prolongation by 12 months compared to those treated by surgery only. Cases of positive lymph nodes up to stage III showed a median prolongation of survival time by 6 months in both therapy groups compared with those treated by surgery only.
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| Conclusions | Well over half of all patients treated with mistletoe extract reported an improvement in their general condition and their appetite even up to a complete subjective well-being. Two advantages speak for Helixor therapy in gastric cancer: clear prolongation of survival time, comparable with chemotherapy and additional improvement in general condition |
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Intrapleural Instillations of an Extract of Viscum Album (L.) (Helixor) for the Treatment of Malignant Pleural Effusions
Stumpf, C., Schietzel, M., University of Witten-Herdecke Tumordiagnostik und Therapie 15, 1994, 57 - 62
| Aim | Efficiency and safety of the intrapleural application of Helixor was to be retested in a clinical study. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Patients | All of the 20 patients with malignant pleural effusions which were admitted to the hospital of Herdecke for pleurodesis during a certain range of time were included in the study. There were no criteria for enclosure or exclusion. 19 of 20 patients showed a Karnofsky index of less than 40 %. Success of therapy was documented prospectively according to WHO standard. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results |
Success rate of various procedures for pleurodesis:
*median success rates of several studies |
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| Conclusions | A success rate of 72 % makes Helixor instillations equivalent to tetracyclin (previously first choice procedure) in pleurodesis. Fortunately Helixor shows a much lower side effect rate of only 1.2 % (e.g. slight burning, WHO grade 1). Pleurodesis with Helixor is methodically simple, low priced, effective and well tolerated | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||