Does Mistletoe Help Cancer Patients?
Commentary by: Commentary by Jacob Schor, ND, FABNO Reference: Ostermann T, Raak C, Bussing A. Survival of cancer patients treated with mistletoe extract (Iscador): a systematic literature review. BMC Cancer. 2009;9(1):451. Design: Meta-analysis of 49 studies on the clinical effects of a mistletoe extract (viscum alba extract) sold as Iscador on survival of cancer patients. Outcome data were extracted and expressed as hazard ratios (HR) using standard formulas. Fifty-two publications on the clinical effects of Iscador use and survival were found. Eight of these papers cited the same data and were excluded. Another 4 studies were excluded because they utilized 2 different mistletoe extracts, Helixor and Iscador. The oldest study was published in 1963 and the most recent 2008. Participants: Overall 3,388 patents were treated with Iscador and 7,253 served as controls. Key Findings: The medical use of mistletoe can be traced back to Druid ritual. Rudolf Steiner popularized the use of mistl