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Mistletoe extract is widely used in German clinics that specialize in the
complementary approach to cancer. But there is far less enthusiasm for this
treatment in the English-speaking world, especially among skeptical
oncologists. Now mistletoe has been found to be reasonably effective in
extending survival, according to a German meta-analysis published last
December. While not definitive, it strongly suggests that mistletoe is a
beneficial adjunct in cancer therapy.
The paper's three authors are at the Center for Integrative Medicine,
University of Witten/Herdecke (Ostermann
2009). They identified a total of 49 studies on the effects of the mistletoe
drug Iscador on survival. Among these, 41 had
enough data to extract meaningful information on survival. The majority of
studies showed positive effects, although it is possible that negative
studies failed to get published (the so-called publication bias). "One
cannot ignore the fact that studies with positive effects of [mistletoe] on
survival of cancer patients are accumulating," the authors wrote.
Iscador is an extract of the white berries of the
mistletoe plant (Viscum album), an
unusual evergreen plant that grows as a kind of parasite in trees across
Europe. Globular mistletoe is a familiar sight in Germany, especially in the
winter when it stands out in the bare branches of various deciduous trees.
Mistletoe has a fascinating history. According to Roman authors, mistletoe
was used as a medicine by Celtic priests, who gathered it using golden
scythes (to avoid contaminating the specimens). Much later, it was introduced
as a cancer treatment by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), the founder of Anthroposophical Medicine (Steiner 1985).
Steiner recommended making a drug extract from mistletoe plants harvested in
both the winter and the summer (Steiner 1989). Based on his recommendations, Ita Wegman and other Anthroposophical doctors treated their patients with
mistletoe extracts but there have been few rigorous studies on the effects.
This study from Witten/Herdecke is a major
contribution in assessing the actual benefit of this unusual treatment.
Resources:
Ostermann T, Raak C, Büssing A. Survival of cancer patients treated with
mistletoe extract (Iscador): a systematic
literature review. BMC Cancer. 2009;9:451.
Steiner
R. Geisteswissenschaft und Medizin. Dornach: Rudolf Steiner Verlag; 1985.
Steiner
R. Physiologisch-therapeutisches
auf Grundlage der Geisteswissenschaft. Dornach: Rudolf
Steiner Verlag; 1989. Besprechungen
mit praktizierenden Ärzten; pp. 285-301.
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