Immunologic Response to Mistletoe Extract (Viscum album L.) after Conventional Treatment in Patients with Operable Breast Cancer

Abstract

Purpose To reduce the side effects and improve the effectiveness of standard chemoradiation therapy, many complementary or alternative medicines have been tried However, little is known about its immunologic effects in breast cancer patients. The aim of this study was to assess the immunologic effects of mistletoe extract (Viscum album L, VAE) in patients with early breast cancer after surgery followed by standard adjuvant chemoradiation therapy Methods A total 20 patients with early breast cancer treated with breast conserving surgery followed conventional chemoradiation therapy Ten of these patients received subcutaneous injections of VAE for 7 weeks IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TGF-beta, and IFN-gamma levels in serum samples were measured in all patients Results. The concentrations of IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, and TGF-beta were not significantly changed between before and after VAE treatment in both test and control group. The concentration of IL-6 in the test group was increased from 8.19 +/- 1 75 pg/mL to 9.86 +/- 1 46 pg/mL after treatment (p=0 013). The concentration of IFN-gamma in the test group was remarkably increased from 91.76 +/- 17 16 pg/mL to 167 42 +/- 66 61 pg/mL after treatment (p=0.009) Conclusion. Significant increases in the concentration of IL-6 and IFN-gamma were observed after VAE treatment. These results suggest that VAE treatment can stimulate immune responses. especially cell-mediated immunity in immune-compromised patients received the chemoradiation for breast cancer.