Phytotherapy

Phytotherapy refers to the use of herbal medicinal products in the treatment of diseases.

Phytotherapy is one of the oldest forms of medicine in the world. Plants provide a myriad of naturally-occuring chemicals that can have a profound effect on human health and, indeed, provide the ingredients in many pharmaceutical drugs on the market.

At the Issels Medical Center various natural preparations are administered according the patients’ individual condition. These therapies are always integrated into the comprehensive treatment program to enhance the proper functioning of all the defense mechanisms.

Results of modern research hold great promise for phytotherapy to be integrated into the treatment of cancer.

Examples of Phytotherapy in Cancer

• Mistletoe

  The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicin in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute(1) in Bethesda, Maryland, conduct a research study on Mistletoe. Both institutions are components of the National Institutes of Health, the Nation’s lead medical research agency. The purpose of this research study is to find out whether an extract from the European mistletoe plant, along with the chemotherapy drug gemcitabine, can help treat people with cancer of the breast, colon, lung and pancreas.

  European mistletoe injections have been used in Europe for decades. Extracts of mistletoe have been shown to kill cancer cells in the laboratory and to stimulate the immune system.(1)

  European mistletoe is available in the US in the form of homeopathy, not to treat a specific disease, but to boost the immune system.

  Reference:

  (1) Mistletoe Extracts (PDQ®)

• Aglycon Ginsenoside

  Aglycon Ginsenosides are natural products of ginseng. Research studies suggest that these products have anti-cancer properties.

  Careseng belongs to this group of compounds. It has been shown to impede the growth of new blood vessels of cancer tumors and to induce cancer cell death.

  At the 2003 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Dr. Willia Jia, lead researcher of a group of scientists of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, reported on the anti-cancer effects of Careseng.(2)

  Tests on cultured breast, prostate, lung, pancreatic and brain cancer cell lines showed that lower concentrations arrested differentiation of the cancer cells and higher concentrations caused cell death.

  Furthermore, when Careseng was combined with chemotherapy, such as Taxol, Mitoxantrone and Cisplatin, the effectiveness of the chemotherapy was enhanced.

(2) Reference:

Jia W, Yan H, Bu X, Liu G, "AntiCancer pharmacology of careseng, a natural product of ginseng"., Proc Am Soc Clin Oncol 22: page 888, 2003 (abstr 3571). Univ. of Brit. Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.


• Artemisinin

  Artemisinin is an extract from the plant Artemisia Annua L (sweet wormwood, also known as the Chinese herb Qinghao).

  Recent research by the scientists Lai H. and Singh N., from the University of Washington in Seattle has shown that Artemisinin has anti-cancer properties.(3) According to their studies Artemisinin is cytotoxic to 55 cancer cell lines, most notably to cells from leukemia, colon, lung, breast, ovarian and prostate cancer as well as from fibrosarcomas. It has also been shown that Artemisinin killed cancers that were traditionally resistant to chemotherapy.

(3) References:

H.Lai and NP Singh, "Selective Cancer Cell Cytoxicity from Exposure in Dihydroartemisinin and Holotransferrin", Cancer Letters, 91:41-46, 1995.

Efferth et al, "Anti-Malaria Drug is Also active against cancer", Int'l Journal of Oncology, 18;767-773,2001.

NP Singh and H Lai, "Selective toxicity of dihydroartemisinin and holotransferrin toward human breast cancer cells." Life Sciences, 70:49-56,2001. Sadava, D et al, Transferrin overcomes drug resistance to artemisinin in human small cell lung carcinoma cells, Cancer Letter, 179,151-156, 2002.

DISCLAIMER: The extent of the response to treatment varies from patient to patient, even with similar diagnosis as the internal bodily environment is unique to each individual patient.

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