Mistletoe in the treatment of malignant melanoma

Abstract

Malignant melanoma is a malignant neoplasia drives from melanocytes. Malignant melanoma, the most causing death, is seen in the third place at skin cancer. Malignant melanoma shows intrinsic resistance to chemotherapeutic agents and variability in the course of the disease which are distinct features separating from other solid tumors. These features prevent the development and standardization of non-surgical treatment models of malignant melanoma. Although there is a large number of chemotherapeutic agents used in the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma, it hasn\'t been demonstrated the survival advantage of adjuvant treatment with chemotherapeutic agents. Because of the different clinical course of malignant melanoma, the disease is thought to be closely associated with immune system. Therefore, immunomodulatory therapy models were developed. Mistletoe stimulates the immune system by increasing the number and activity of dendritic cells, thus it has been shown to effect on tumor growth and metastasis of malignant melanoma patient. Outlined in this review are the recent developments in the understanding the role of mistletoe as a complementary therapy for malignant melanoma. J Clin Exp Invest 2014; 5 (1): 145-152

Keywords

• Malignant melanoma, mistletoe, Viscum album

Malign melanomun tedavisinde ökse otunun yeri

Öz

Melanoma melanositlerden köken alan malign tümördür. Deri kanserleri içinde 3. sıklıkta görülen melanoma en fazla ölüme neden olan kanser tipidir. Malign melanomu, diğer solid tümörlerden ayıran belirgin özellikleri, kemoterapötik ajanlara gösterdiği intrinsik direnç ve hastalık seyrinin değişkenliğidir. Bu özellikler, malign melanomda cerrahi dışı tedavi modellerinin geliştirilmesini ve standart hale getirilmesini engellemektedir. Metastatik malign melanom tedavisinde kullanılan çok sayıda kemoterapötik ajan olmasına rağmen bu ajanlar ile yapılan adjuvan tedavi çalışmalarında sağ kalım avantajı gösterilememiştir. Malign melanomun farklı klinik seyir göstermesi nedeniyle, hastalığın immun sistem ile yakından ilişkili olabileceği düşünülmektedir. Bu nedenle immunomodulatör tedavi modelleri geliştirilmiştir. Ökse otunun dendritik hücrelerin sayısını ve aktivitesini artırmak suretiyle immün sistemi uyardığı ve böylece malign melanomlu hastada tümör büyümesi ve metastazı üzerine etkili olduğu gösterilmiştir. Derlemede malign melanomun komplementer tedavisinde ökseotunun rolünün anlaşılmasına yönelik güncel gelişmeler özetlenmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Malign melanom, ökse otu, viscum album

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