SynthesisJournal of cancer research and clinical oncology2023
Systematic analysis of mistletoe prescriptions in clinical studies.
Synthesis in Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic assessment of the influence of quality of studies on mistletoe in cancer care on the results of a meta-analysis on overall survival.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2024Pooled it
- Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Mistletoe Extracts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Integrative cancer therapiesPooled it
- Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of aPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Mistletoe in Cancer Cell Biology: Recent Advances.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Review
- Review
- Comparison of epoprostenol andHistology and histopathology · 2024Article
- The cardioprotective potential of selected species of mistletoe.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Review
- Therapeutic Strategies for Pancreatic-Cancer-Related Type 2 Diabetes Centered around Natural Products.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- The Anti-Inflammatory Activity ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeMistletoe treatment is discussed controversial as a complementary treatment for cancer patients. Aim of this systematic analysis is to assess the concept of mistletoe treatment in the clinical studies with respect to indication, type of mistletoe preparation, treatment schedule, aim of treatment, and assessment of treatment results.
methodsIn the period from August to December 2020, the following databases were systematically searched: Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PsycINFO, CINAHL, and "Science Citation Index Expanded" (Web of Science). We assessed all studies for study types, methods, endpoints and mistletoe preparations including their ways of application, host trees and dosage schedules.
resultsThe search concerning mistletoe therapy revealed 3296 hits. Of these, 102 publications and at total of 19.441 patients were included. We included several study types investigating the application of mistletoe in different groups of participants (cancer patients of any type of cancer were included as well as studies conducted with healthy volunteers and pediatric patients). The most common types of cancer were breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer and malignant melanoma. Randomized controlled studies, cohort studies and case reports make up most of the included studies. A huge variety was observed concerning type and composition of mistletoe extracts (differing pharmaceutical companies and host trees), ways of applications and dosage schedules. Administration varied e. g. between using mistletoe extract as sole treatment and as concomitant therapy to cancer treatment. As the analysis of all studies shows, there is no relationship between mistletoe preparation used, host tree and dosage, and cancer type.
conclusionsOur research was not able to deviate transparent rules or guidelines with respect to mistletoe treatment in cancer care.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.