J Breast Cancer.  2010 Mar;13(1):14-18. 10.4048/jbc.2010.13.1.14.

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

• Son GS
• Ryu WS
• Kim HY
• Woo SU
• Park KH
• Bae JW

• KMID: 2286554
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4048/jbc.2010.13.1.14

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.

Keyword

Breast neoplasms; Immunology; Mistletoe; Therapy

MeSH Terms

Breast
Breast Neoplasms
Humans
Immunity, Cellular
Injections, Subcutaneous
Interleukin-10
Interleukin-2
Interleukin-4
Interleukin-6
Mastectomy, Segmental
Mistletoe
Transforming Growth Factor beta
Interleukin-10
Interleukin-2
Interleukin-4
Interleukin-6
Transforming Growth Factor beta

Figure

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  Figure 1 The changes of IL-6 concentration after Viscum Album treatment in the control and test group.

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  Figure 2 The changes of IFN-γ concentration after Viscum Album treatment in the control and test group.

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