Abstract
Viscum album, commonly known as mistletoe or European mistletoe, is a semi-parasitic plant that grows on leafy and coniferous trees. Mistletoe was used medicinally in ancient Greece (460 - 377 BC) to treat disorders of the spleen and complaints associated with menstruation. Nowadays, V. album extracts are most frequently used for complementary cancer therapy in both human and veterinary medicine. Since the early 1920s, V. album preparations derived from aqueous extracts have been commercially available in several countries, such as Iscador®, Eurixor®, Helixor®, and Abnoba viscum®. The anticancer activities of mistletoe have been ascribed to a combination of cytotoxic and immunological effects. However, the in vitro cytotoxicity of V. album extracts is not only associated with antitumor metabolites present in aqueous extracts since non-aqueous preparations have demonstrated anticancer activity too. Using ethanolic preparations, Holandino`s group demonstrated the potential antitumor effect of V. album mother tinctures on different tumoral lineages. Considering the influence of harvest conditions and host trees, ongoing studies attempt to unravel the action mechanisms of preparations derived from alcoholic V. album extracts to provide scientific evidence for new approaches in cancer therapy. This round table discussion aims to review the latest in vitro and in vivo findings using preparations of V album derived from alcoholic extracts in different experimental cancer models. The themes are organized into four parts: 1) The history of the Viscum album and differences between aqueous and ethanolic extracts, how mother tincture is obtained, and the biological effect on different tumor lines (Prof. Carla Holandino´s talk); 2) Preparation of ultra-diluted medicines in different homeopathic scales, and their biological effect on murine melanoma model in vitro study (Prof. Priscila Inhauser´s talk); 3) Effects of ultra-dilutions of V album in an experimental in vivo model of murine melanoma (Prof. Elizabeth C Perez´s talk).
Published Version
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