A Christmas Favorite vs. Cancer?

When most people hear the word mistletoe, they think Christmas, not cancer. However, in several European countries, this plant sometimes is used in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Mistletoe also is used in palliative care, which is designed to give the best possible quality of life to patients and their families who are faced with a life-threatening illness, and in hospice care, which focuses only on patient comfort and quality of life rather than curing the patient's disease.

Mistletoe has long been known to have anti-cancer properties against cancer cells, in laboratory settings. Whether it works in humans with cancer remains an open question. A newly-published, systematic review of the existing research on mistletoe for cancer treatment, published in Research in Complementary Medicine, attempted to answer this question.

Based on consideration of nearly two dozen clinical trials and observational (cohort) studies, the expert reviewers have concluded that the question remains open. The quality of the clinical trials was generally low, in terms of their design and their ability to find differences in outcomes between people using mistletoe and people not using mistletoe. That's the bad news: We still don't know if adding mistletoe to other cancer treatments is helpful.

Now for the good news: Mistletoe seems to improve quality of life by lessening symptoms and helping people with cancer feel better overall. Additional good news is that this plant appears to be safe. In looking at the nearly 7,000 people who used mistletoe in clinical trials, the researchers only found one instance of a serious side effect from this treatment. The risk of allergic reaction to mistletoe wasn't a big problem either. There are several different mistletoe preparations and none seemed superior in terms of benefit to recipients. They all improved quality of life equally.

Your Take Home Message

If you are interested in or considering trying mistletoe, there are several very important points to keep in mind:

• For cancer treatment, mistletoe is prepared in a special way and injected into the body. It is never taken orally. That means you cannot eat mistletoe safely. In fact, the raw plant is highly toxic and can cause severe poisoning.
• Because mistletoe must be injected, you have to see a qualified health care practitioner who is licensed to provide this treatment.
• If you decide to pursue mistletoe treatment and you go to someone other than your oncologist to receive it, you must let your entire medical care team know you are taking mistletoe. Both your conventional medical care team and any complementary/alternative medical care team must know all of the different treatments you are receiving in order to keep you safe and minimize the risk of drug interactions.
• Insurance is unlikely to pay for this treatment. This means you likely will have to pay out-of-pocket to receive mistletoe. Be sure you understand all of the costs and make sure you are ready to pay for them before getting started. For example, if you do have a negative reaction to mistletoe and you need to have an extra appointment with the health care provider who gave you this therapy, will this cost extra? Ask a lot of questions.
• If you are being treated with hospice or palliative care, you may take mistletoe alone, as your only treatment. However, if your cancer is being treated with the hope of curing it, do not quit your conventional treatment or replace this treatment with mistletoe alone. Mistletoe is not proven to be an effective, stand-alone treatment.