Ottawa ND Dugald Seely, executive director of the Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre says that mistletoe – as part of an integrated treatment can be effective fighting cancer. And one of his patients, 43-year-old Susie Saghbini, strongly agrees.
Suffering from stage 4 colon cancer, Saghbini had undergone 39 chemotherapy treatments over a two year period before doctors suggested she visit the Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre on the chance that she might find some relief from her chemo symptoms – which were so severe that Sagbini says she couldn’t look down without her nose starting to bleed. She said she was falling apart. As part of her treatment she received injections of European mistletoe extract.
Much to her surprise – and no doubt the surprise of a few doctors – her tumours began to grow smaller. There is no direct evidence that this was due to the mistletoe, but Saghbini believes it was.
Combined with chemotherapy, says Seely, “it seems to reduce symptoms like fatigue, nausea, neutropenia, some of the issues [cancer patients] commonly deal with.”
He explains that, at his clinic, mistletoe is primarily used to support the immune system and that it helps support the quality of life during chemotherapy.
While therapeutic use of mistletoe is not recognized by the American Cancer Society or by medical associations in North America, Seely insists that some trials have shown that mistletoe used alongside conventional treatments can help ease symptoms. But he also concedes that more research must be done.
Saghbini, however, demands no such evidence, happy with the fact that it has now been over a year since her last chemo. She is sure in her heart that it was the mistletoe.
