ISCADOR® in Cancer Therapy: Scientific Information and Study Results

There is a long tradition, going back to the fourth century BC, of using mistletoe as a remedy. This evergreen plant has been used over the ages for menstruation complaints, epilepsy, ulcers, cardiac insufficiency, hypertension and oedema (Ramm 2015).

Based on research by Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925), the founder of anthroposophy, the white-berried mistletoe (Viscum album L.) was first specifically used in cancer therapy at the beginning of the 20th century. At the end of 1916, he suggested to Dr. Ita Wegman, a physician closely collaborating with him, that mistletoe has specific potential for cancer treatment. Working with an experienced pharmacist, she developed an injection preparation (Iscar), and first treated cancer patients with mistletoe in the summer of 1917 (Selg 2016) . The preparation was further developed in the following years and registered under the name ISCADOR in 1926. Today, after almost a century of clinical and practical experience, ISCADOR is the most frequently prescribed mistletoe preparation in complementary tumour therapy, with the longest and most thorough research history.

ISCADOR, which is manufactured from the leaves, stems and berries of the plant, is a fermented aqueous extract of the white-berried mistletoe (Viscum album L.) originating from the host trees of apple (ISCADOR M = Mali), oak (ISCADOR Qu = Quercus), pine (ISCADOR P = Pini) and elm (ISCADOR U = Ulmi). In Switzerland, fir mistletoe ISCADOR is also available (ISCADOR A = Abietis).

This brochure gives a full account of the constituents of mistletoe, their effects and immunological properties, and current ISCADOR study findings. ISCADOR treatment is also described here in more detail.