European mistletoe extract has been studied in cancer patients for decades. Dr. Johnston looks at a randomized trial in advanced pancreatic cancer that reported longer survival and better quality of life.
It's almost that time of year. The Christmas songs are already playing. What if I told you that mistletoe, that parasitic plant we hang over our doorways at Christmas, has been studied as a cancer treatment?
Not the berries, not mistletoe tea. It is an extract of the European mistletoe, and it's been studied and used in European integrative oncology for decades.
One pancreatic cancer trial produced amazing results. Researchers randomized 220 patients with either locally advanced pancreatic cancer or metastatic pancreatic cancer to either supportive care alone or supportive care plus mistletoe extract. With mistletoe, median survival went from 2.7 months to 4.8 months. That's a 78% increase in duration of life.
Patients receiving mistletoe also reported improvements in fatigue, pain, appetite, and other measures of quality of life. Mistletoe contains lectins and other compounds with immunomodulatory and direct anti-cancer effects in experimental models.
Here's the research. You decide.
Educational research summary, not medical advice. Talk with your oncologist and pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any treatment or supplement.