Case Report
Mistletoe treatment in cancer-related fatigue: a case report
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* Corresponding author: Kathrin Wode kathrin.wode@karolinska.se
1 Vidarkliniken, S-15391 Järna, Sweden
2 Karolinska University Hospital, Södersjukhuset, S-11883 Stockholm, Sweden
3 Södertälje Hospital, S-15286 Södertälje, Sweden
4 Institute for Applied Epistemology and Medical Methodology, D-79111 Freiburg, Germany
Cases Journal 2009, 2:77 doi:10.1186/1757-1626-2-77
Published: 22 January 2009Abstract
Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a major and very common disabling condition in cancer patients. Treatment options do exist but have limited therapeutic effects. Mistletoe extracts are widely-used complementary cancer treatments whose possible impact on CRF has not been investigated in detail. A 36-year-old Swedish woman with a 10-year history of recurrent breast cancer, suffering from severe CRF, started complementary cancer treatment with mistletoe extracts. Over two and a half years a correspondence was observed between the intensity of mistletoe therapy and the fatigue. Mistletoe extracts seemed to have a beneficial, dose-dependent effect on CRF. Although such effect has also been noted in clinical studies, it has never been the subject of detailed investigation. More research should clarify these observations.