Johns Hopkins University studies the efficacy of a plant against cancer

Mistletoe has a long history as a traditional medicine and specifically in the complementary cancer treatment. There are scientific studies that prove that it can improve the quality of life and reduce the side effects of cancer treatments, but there is not enough evidence to prove its effectiveness in fighting the disease. That may change if a series of studies started by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center prove successful.

The researchers, led by Dr. Channing Paller, associate professor of oncology, have completed the first phase I clinical trial with the product Helixor M (mistletoe extract) intravenously with the goal of determining dosing for subsequent clinical trials and assessing safety.

Mistletoe could be effective against cancer in some cases

The purpose of the trial was to assess the drug’s safety, side effects, dosage, and timing of treatment, but the researchers they were able to document an improvement in quality of life and some disease control in some cases. The findings of the small study have been published in Cancer Research Communications.

The study was carried out with 21 patients with cancers of various types, in advanced stages of the disease and resistant to treatment. The mistletoe extract was administered intravenously three times a week. The researchers concluded that the appropriate dose is 600 mg. In three patients, the tumors decreased in size and remained stable for 2-5 months. Patients also reported better overall quality of life through a questionnaire. The most common reported side effects were fatigue, nausea, and chills and these were considered manageable.

“Intravenous mistletoe demonstrated manageable toxicities with disease control and improved the quality of life in this group of patients, who had already received multiple cancer therapies,” Paller explains in the press release issued by the university. He adds that additional phase II studies in combination with chemotherapy are the next step, pending additional funding. more research is needed to better understand mistletoe’s mechanisms of action.

What is medicinal mistletoe?

He european mistletoe (viscum album L.) is a semi-parasitic plant with several active principles that, in preclinical studies, directly cause the death of tumor cells and stimulate an immune response.

Mistletoe extract has been used in Europe for several decades as a complementary medicine for the treatment of cancer, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), hepatitis, and degenerative joint diseases, alone or in combination with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Some prepared with mistletoe are part of the homeopathic pharmacopoeia and are offered in comprehensive or complementary care clinics.

Mistletoe contains a range of substances with potential pharmacodynamic activity, including lectins have been the most extensively investigated. In addition to lectins, it also has viscotoxins, phenylpropanoids, phytosterols, triterpenes, saccharides, and polyalcohols that can contribute to the properties of the extract. The role of these different compounds is currently unknown.

Some of the properties could depend on the host plant on which the mistletoe develops. That is why there are three presentations of the Helixor product: Helixor-P (pine), Helixor-M (apple) and Helixor-A (fir). There are other brands of similar products (Iscador, Iscador Qu, Lektinol, Cefalektin, Eurixor, ABNOBAviscum).

According to the Herbal Medicines and Supplements Database of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York (United States), studies support the use of mistletoe to improve symptoms and quality of life, and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy in pancreatic, lung, colorectal, and breast cancers. Some studies suggest that it may help prolong survival, but the results of other studies are conflicting. In addition, mistletoe can reduce the side effects of medication in some cases.