Research Article

Safety of Intravenous Application of Mistletoe (Viscum album L.) Preparations in Oncology: An Observational Study

Table 3

Received therapy combinations and adverse drug reactions to those therapies.

Therapy combinationsPatientsPatients who had an ADR (relative frequency)

Intravenous mistletoe therapy alone44519 (4.3)
Intravenous mistletoe therapy+chemotherapy*1873 (1.6)
chemotherapy* + immunotherapy170
surgery130
bisphosphonates120
chemotherapy* + radiation therapy120
immunotherapy90
hormone therapy50
radiation therapy30
bisphosphonates + hormone therapy20
signal transduction inhibitors20
chemotherapy* + hormone therapy + signal transduction inhibitors10
chemotherapy* + signal transduction inhibitors10

A total of 201 patients (55% of all patients that had chemotherapy and 42% of all i.v. mistletoe patients) received i.v. mistletoe and chemotherapy within close temporal proximity (very often on the same day). Of these patients, 63% also received corticosteroids as prechemotherapy medication (i.e., dexamethasone or prednisolone) at least once.