Table 4. Use of Other Mistletoe Products in Cancer Treatment: Clinical Reports Describing Therapeutic Endpointsa
| Reference Citation(s) | Type of Study | Product Tested | Type(s) of Cancer | No. of Patients: Enrolled; Treated; Controlb | Strongest Benefit Reportedc | Concurrent Therapyd | Level of Evidence Scoree |
| [13] | Randomized controlled trial | PS76A (Lektin) | Breast | 352; 176; 176 | Improved quality of life | Yes | 1iC |
| [33] | Randomized trial | Isorel | Colorectal | 64; 50; 14 | Improved survival and tolerance to either adjuvant or palliative treatment | Yes | 1iiA |
| [34] | Nonrandomized controlled trial | Isorel | Digestive tract | 70; 40; 30 | Enhanced cellular immunity and improved quality of life | No | 2C |
| [41] | Nonrandomized controlled trial | Abnoba-viscum Quercus | Metastatic colorectal | 25; 25; none | None | Yes | 2Diii |
| [22] | Nonrandomized controlled trial | Viscum fraxini-2 | Hepatocellular carcinoma | 23; 23; none | Improved survival | No | 2Dii |
| No. = number. | |||||||
| aSee text and the NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms for additional information and definition of terms. | |||||||
| bNumber of patients treated plus number of patients controlled may not equal number of patients enrolled; number of patients enrolled = number of patients initially recruited/considered by the researchers who conducted a study; number of patients treated = number of enrolled patients who were administered the treatment being studied AND for whom results were reported; historical control subjects are not included in number of patients enrolled. | |||||||
| cStrongest evidence reported that the treatment under study has anticancer activity or otherwise improves the well-being of cancer patients. | |||||||
| dChemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, or cytokine therapy administered/allowed at the same time as mistletoe therapy. | |||||||
| eFor information about levels of evidence analysis and an explanation of the level of evidence scores, see Levels of Evidence for Human Studies of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine. |
References
- Wetzel D, Schäfer M: Results of a randomised placebo-controlled multicentre study with PS76A2 (standardised mistletoe preparation) in patients with breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. [Abstract] Phytomedicine 7 (Suppl 2): A-SL-66, 2000.
- Mabed M, El-Helw L, Shamaa S: Phase II study of viscum fraxini-2 in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Br J Cancer 90 (1): 65-9, 2004. [PUBMED Abstract]
- Cazacu M, Oniu T, Lungoci C, et al.: The influence of isorel on the advanced colorectal cancer. Cancer Biother Radiopharm 18 (1): 27-34, 2003. [PUBMED Abstract]
- Enesel MB, Acalovschi I, Grosu V, et al.: Perioperative application of the Viscum album extract Isorel in digestive tract cancer patients. Anticancer Res 25 (6C): 4583-90, 2005 Nov-Dec. [PUBMED Abstract]
- Bar-Sela G, Haim N: Abnoba-viscum (mistletoe extract) in metastatic colorectal carcinoma resistant to 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin-based chemotherapy. Med Oncol 21 (3): 251-4, 2004. [PUBMED Abstract]
