1 Research Institute Havelhöhe, Berlin, Germany.
3 Institute for Social Medicine, Charité, Berlin, Germany.
Integr Cancer Ther. 2019 Jan-Dec;18:1534735419832367. doi: 10.1177/1534735419832367.
Viscum album L (VA, mistletoe) extracts are commonly used in integrative oncology. Here the clinical safety profile of additional VA-treatments to standard care in cancer patients with preexisting autoimmune diseases was analyzed.
In this observational cohort study medical data and recorded adverse events (AEs) of treated patients were retrieved from the Network Oncology registry and a safety analysis was performed.
A total of 106 patients (median age 63 years) treated with add-on VA-extracts were analyzed. Most frequent autoimmune diseases were Hashimoto's thyroiditis (27%), psoriasis (19%), and ulcerative colitis (15%). Seventeen patients (16%) experienced VA-related AEs, but neither long-term side effects nor VA-therapy discontinuations were recorded. In a subgroup of 30 patients receiving long-term VA-therapy no exacerbations or flares of underlying autoimmune diseases were recorded. Additionally, a significant halving of overall AE-rates was observed during VA-treatment periods (p= 0.019).
Our findings suggest that add-on VA-therapy in cancer patients with preexisting autoimmune diseases as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, psoriasis, ulcerative colitis, Grave's disease, and some rheumatic diseases is safe. No higher rates of VA-associated AEs were observed and the overall AE-rates were significantly lowered in VA-therapy periods. However, results should be interpreted with caution in light of the study's observational character.
槲寄生（VA，槲寄生）提取物在肿瘤整合医学中被广泛应用。本研究旨在分析在患有自身免疫性疾病的癌症患者中，在标准治疗的基础上联合使用 VA 治疗的临床安全性概况。
本观察性队列研究从肿瘤网络注册中心中检索了接受附加 VA 提取物治疗的患者的医疗数据和记录的不良事件（AE），并进行了安全性分析。
共分析了 106 例（中位年龄 63 岁）接受附加 VA 提取物治疗的患者。最常见的自身免疫性疾病是桥本甲状腺炎（27%）、银屑病（19%）和溃疡性结肠炎（15%）。17 例（16%）患者出现与 VA 相关的 AE，但未记录到长期副作用或 VA 治疗中断。在接受长期 VA 治疗的 30 例患者亚组中，未记录到潜在自身免疫性疾病的恶化或复发。此外，在 VA 治疗期间，总体 AE 发生率显著降低（p=0.019）。
我们的研究结果表明，在患有自身免疫性疾病（如桥本甲状腺炎、银屑病、溃疡性结肠炎、格雷夫斯病和一些风湿性疾病）的癌症患者中，联合使用 VA 治疗是安全的。未观察到与 VA 相关的 AE 发生率更高，并且在 VA 治疗期间总体 AE 发生率显著降低。然而，鉴于研究的观察性质，应谨慎解释研究结果。
