INTRAVENOUS APPLICATION OF HELIXOR® IN GYNECOLOGICAL ONCOLOGY: IS IT SAFE?

Mistletoe (Viscum album L.), a plant with a partially woody stem, is a semi-parasite that lives epiphytically on the branches of a variety of deciduous and coniferous trees [1]. The stems and leaves of mistletoe are used as herbal drugs, and various commercially available preparations are formulated from the crude mistletoe plant material [1]. Mistletoe extracts are complex multicomponent herbal preparations that contain various biologically active substances such as mistletoe lectins (ML), viscotoxins, amino acids, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, triterpenes, phytosterol, alkaloids, polyalcohols, and polysaccharides, the content of which may vary depending on harvest time, species of the host tree, and manufacturing process [2] [3]. The different fractions and components exhibit varying activities including cytotoxic, antineoplastic, and immunomodulatory, which appear to be dose-dependent [4].