Mistletoe lectin is not the only cytotoxic component in fermented preparations of Viscum album from white fir (Abies pectinata)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Preparations of mistletoe (<it>Viscum album</it>) are the form of cancer treatment that is most frequently used in the complementary medicine. Previous work has shown that these preparations are able to exert cytotoxic effects on carcinoma cells, the extent of which might be influenced by the host tree species and by the content of mistletoe lectin.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using colorimetric assays, we have now compared the cytotoxic effects of <it>Viscum album </it>preparations (VAPs) obtained from mistletoe growing on oak (<it>Quercus robur </it>and <it>Q. petraea</it>, VAP-Qu), apple tree (<it>Malus domestica</it>,, VAP-M), pine (<it>Pinus sylvestris</it>, VAP-P) or white fir (<it>Abies pectinata</it>, VAP-A), on the <it>in vitro </it>growth of breast and bladder carcinoma cell lines. While MFM-223, KPL-1, MCF-7 and HCC-1937 were the breast carcinoma cell lines chosen, the panel of tested bladder carcinoma cells comprised the T-24, TCC-SUP, UM-UC-3 and J-82 cell lines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Each of the VAPs inhibited cell growth, but the extent of this inhibition differed with the preparation and with the cell line. The concentrations of VAP-Qu, VAP-M and VAP-A which led to a 50 % reduction of cell growth (IC₅₀) varied between 0.6 and 0.03 mg/ml. Higher concentrations of VAP-P were required to obtain a comparable effect. Purified mistletoe lectin I (MLI) led to an inhibition of breast carcinoma cell growth at concentrations lower than those of VAPs, but the sensitivity towards purified MLI did not parallel that towards VAPs. Bladder carcinoma cells were in most cases more sensitive to VAPs treatment than breast carcinoma cells. The total mistletoe lectin content was very high in VAP-Qu (54 ng/mg extract), intermediate in VAP-M (25 ng/mg extract), and very low in VAP-P (1.3 ng/mg extract) and in VAP-A (1 ng/mg extract). As to be expected from the low content of mistletoe lectin, VAP-P led to relatively weak cytotoxic effects. Most remarkably, however, the lectin-poor VAP-A revealed a cytotoxic effect comparable to, or even stronger than, that of the lectin-rich VAP-Qu, on all tested bladder and breast carcinoma cell lines.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results suggest the existence of cytotoxic components other than mistletoe lectin in VAP-A and reveal an unexpected potential of this preparation for the treatment of breast and bladder cancer.</p

Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcoma in Adults

When treating soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) of the extremities, the major therapeutic goals are survival, local tumor control, optimal function, and minimal morbidity. Surgical resection of the primary tumor is the essential component of treatment for virtually all patients. A wide surgical margin is necessary for local tumor control when surgery is used without radiation, i.e., the cut should traverse normal tissue outside the reactive tumor zone. This is because sarcomas tend to infiltrate normal tissue adjacent to the evident lesion. Thus, removal of the gross lesion by a simple excision alone (only a narrow margin) is followed by relatively high rates of local recurrence. Radical resections are associated with a reduction in the local recurrence rate, but they may compromise limb function. The combination of function-sparing surgery and radiation achieves better rates of local control than either treatment alone, for nearly all patients with STSs, although combined treatment can be associated with acute wound complications in some patients and late normal tissue complications in others. Because both surgical and radiation techniques are both critically important for optimizing local control of tumor and functional outcome, it is important to manage these patients in dedicated multispecialty clinics comprised of physicians with expertise in sarcomas, including orthopedic and general oncology surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, sarcoma pathologists, and bone and soft tissue diagnostic radiologists. Radiation therapy can be given by external beam radiation (EBRT) or brachytherapy or combination thereof. EBRT can be given either pre-operatively or post-operatively