title: Mistletoe treatment in cancer-related fatigue: a case report.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Vidarkliniken, S-15391 Järna, Sweden. kathrin.wode@karolinska.se.
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wode
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lundberg
authors.forename: Gunver S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Kienle