Treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer with mistletoe: Results of a pilot trial

Journal/Book: Anticancer Research 16, 915-920. 1996;

Abstract: Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with poor prognosis. It ischaracterized by its unresponsiveness to chemo- and/or radiotherapy.Therefore, many patients demand alternative drug therapy such asmistletoe treatment. However, there are no controlled data availableanalyzing the effect of mistletoe treatment in pancreatic cancer. In thepresent phase I/II study we evaluated the effect of mistletoe (Eurixor)treatment in 16 patients (7 women, 9 men) with histologically verifiedductal pancreatic carcinoma. At the time when the patients were enrollednine patients had lymph node metastases (stage III), and in 7 patientsdistant metastases (stage IV) were present. Mistletoe was administeredtwice a week by subcutaneous injection in a dosage of 1 ng per kg bodyweight. Monthly follow-ups included clinical status, multidimensionalevaluation of quality of life, contrast enhanced computed axialtomography scan (CT scan) or ultrasonography, and determination of thetumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen19-9 (CA 19-9). Apart from one anaphylactic reaction, which necessitatedsuspension of treatment for a few days, no severe side effects wereobserved. No partial or complete remission was seen. Eight patients(50%) showed a CT-verified status of "no change" according to WorldHealth Organization criteria for at least 8 weeks. Median survival timein all patients was 5.6 months (range 1.5 to 26.5 months). Analysis ofmultidimensional evaluation of quality of life showed a stable course ofdisease in 7 patients. All except two patients claimed that mistletoehad a positive effect on their quality of life, with an obvious declineonly during the last weeks of life. These results indicate thatmistletoe is not able to significantly influence tumor growth inadvanced pancreatic carcinomas. However, mistletoe treatment canstabilize quality of life, and therefore may help patients to maintainadequate life quality in their few remaining months. Author.

Keyword(s): AGED

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