Preface
In view of the fact that it is now possible to receive immune stimulating therapy with mistletoe in the US, Mercury Press thought it advisable to make available introductory material accessible to the lay person.

Dr. Richard Wagner, who with his wife Elizabeth, has a very active oncology practice in Germany, has also taken the time to write extensively about his experiences and investigations. In this book he shares with us 160 questions about treatment of cancer with the mistletoe preparation Iscar available in the US from Weleda, Inc. in Congers, NY. (Iscador in Europe) These questions were asked by his patients during his many years of practice and he shares with us his answers.

It is well to bear in mind that the views he expresses are the views of one very experienced physician who has treated and studied many patients, however, that does not mean that what can be read here is dogma. Treatment in anthroposophical medicine strives to be individualized treatment and this means that other physicians may choose to vary what is suggested here, in agreement with Dr. Wagner when he says that "immune stimulating therapy cannot be a 'schematic therapy'. Only individualized therapy brings the de­sired results."

For those to whom anthroposophical medicine is new there is appended a brief discussion to familiarize the reader with some of the ideas, methods and terminology of this human centered medicine initiated by Rudolf Steiner with the help of Dr. Ita Wegman.

Scientific literature regarding mistletoe preparations is available in the form of several compendia from Mercury Press, Spring Valley, NY.

Foreword to the Present Volume
During the last eighteen years I have collected the questions that patients have asked about my activity, first at the Filder Klinik in Stuttgart, then in the Lukas Klinik in Arlesheim / Basel and finally in my general practice in Stuttgart, and have attempted to answer them here in a generally understandable manner.

There were some considerations for presenting a book in this form. Even though there were al­ready a whole series of comprehensive books and accounts about anthroposophical therapy with mistletoe preparations (referred to in the bibliography), I was, also as a result of discussion with many of my patients, of the opinion that it would be meaningful to publish a short account on therapy with Iscar. This book allows one to quickly inform oneself about particular questions, which is useful for patients as well as for physicians who are not yet familiar with mistletoe ther­apy.

One does not always have the time to study an extensive account, but for those interested, refer­ences are made here to those books. Those who want to understand the nature of anthroposophi­cally extended medicine, which is especially focused on anthroposophical cancer therapy here, cannot avoid these more extensive discussions.

I hope that this little book can aid the understanding of therapy with Iscar and can help interested colleagues and afflicted patients on the often difficult path of cancer therapy.

General Foreword
Despite research and teaching about the causes of cancer and the possibility of treatment having been pursued for many decades, the resulting methods of contemporary oncology are only suc­cessful for a few types of cancer.

Among these are specific kinds of childhood leukemia, testicular carcinoma, specific subforms of mammary carcinoma and lung carcinoma as well as Hodgkin's disease and ovarian carcinoma. However, recent investigations show that, in the case of mammary carcinoma, only few patients benefit from chemotherapy in a healing sense. It appears that only the interval between an opera­tion and the appearance of metastases is prolonged, but not the total survival time.

Yet, with many other forms of cancer one has the impression that the survival time of the patient cannot be significantly prolonged, either by an operation, or by the succeeding therapies, such as radiation or chemotherapy.

However, the survival period of the patient with a humane quality of life is, according to my view, the only parameter against which a therapy can be measured. It is unimportant that the pa­tient shows reduced tumor manifestation if this is not directly connected to a lengthening of sur­vival time.

Today we have indications that, even in epithelial tumors, chemotherapy has a therapeutic effect only in a few cases and that the survival period is in fact not lengthened.

The problems of modern medicine, in the form of side effects, have increased, so that a great number of patients leave their primary and secondary oncological therapy, and turn to alternative methods of treatment.

The field of alternative methods of treatment is immense and extends from thymic extracts, treatment with trace elements, various diets, ozone therapy, to mistletoe extracts.

It is important to the publisher, to the Weleda pharmaceutical company and to myself as author and editor of this series, to explain, in general, the contribution medicine can make if extended according to anthroposophical principles and, more particularly what contribution mistletoe ther­apy, which has grown out of this approach, can make to contemporary oncology.

It has to be stated clearly that this is not an alternative ontological therapy, but rather that anthro­posophically extended medicine can only truly be an extension if it includes the medicine of natural science, while using other forms of therapy and other medications in addition or as a sole therapy.

For a description of anthroposophical medicine, its basic concepts and terminology please see the appendix.

-  Richard Wagner