Mistletoe therapy for various types of cancer

For the evaluation of mistletoe therapy in cancer, 157 clinical studies of varying quality are available. 152 of these studies (97 percent) show an advantage for mistletoe therapy. It has been demonstrated that

... it is safe and has only few side effects
... it improves quality of life and the patient’s subjective well-being
... it can increase the efficacy of conventional cancer therapies
... it can reduce their side effects, so that the optimal dose may be used for therapy and the treatment becomes more effective
... it can alleviate disease- or therapy-related symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and the susceptibility to infections
... it can relieve tumour-related fatigue syndrome fatigue-syndrome
... it can relieve tumour-related pain
... it stimulates the body’s immune response against the tumour as well as non-specific immune reactions
... it can inhibit the growth of cancer cells
... it can prevent relapses and metastases if necessary
... it may extend overall survival time.

The extent of the therapeutic effect seems to depend on the duration of mistletoe therapy, the dose, the host tree and the type of application. Biological characteristics of the tumour and the individual readiness of the immune system to respond to mistletoe therapy also play an essential role.

On the following pages, we have summarized the current state of clinical research with regard to the different types of cancer.

Last update: June 16th, 2023/AT1