Actress Suzanne Somers chooses an alternative therapy to treat her breast cancer © By Peter Chowka (April 1, 2001) Actress, entertainer, author, and entrepreneur Suzanne Somers made the surprise announcement on CNN's Larry King Live on March 28 that she has breast cancer and is using an alternative treatment instead of standard chemotherapy. Somers, 54, a high-profile celebrity and author of best-selling diet and fitness books who initially rose to fame on the ABC-TV sitcom Three's Company in the late 1970s, said she was going public after a year-long private battle with cancer in order to counter the National Enquirer's recent reports that she had undergone liposuction because her much-hyped diet program had failed. On the CNN program, Somers confirmed that she had undergone procedures at the Lasky Clinic in Beverly Hills but said that "What I had done [there] had to do with my breast cancer." Somers said her cancer was diagnosed in April 2000 after which she had surgery (she implied it was a lumpectomy and not a mastectomy) followed by radiation therapy. She then went against her doctors' wishes, she said, and declined chemotherapy — and she started taking the alternative treatment Iscador, a mistletoe extract. Iscador is popular in parts of Europe but relatively unknown in the US. Somers incorrectly described Iscador as "homeopathic." In fact, it is an herbal therapy that is part of Anthroposophical Medicine, based on the work of Rudolf Steiner, PhD (1861-1925), a European philosopher, scientist, educator, and the founder of Anthroposophy. During the 24 hours after Somers' announcement, news reports about her cancer spread through the media, but initially all of them repeated her misstatement, referring to her chosen alternative treatment as "homeopathic." A live debate segment on MSNBC's national cable news program at 7:42 pm EST on March 29 pitted Charles Simone, MD, who supported Somers' decision, against Mitchell Gaynor, MD, who supported chemotherapy. An Internet poll at MSNBC.com that ran from 7-8 pm, coinciding with the program, asked the question, "Do you think alternative medicine can effectively treat cancer?" Of 179 votes tabulated, 55 percent said "yes." The inevitable challenge Less than two days after the story broke, Somers' decision was being openly challenged by mainstream medical experts. In an article published March 30 titled "Concerns Over Somers' Cancer," the Hartford (CT) Courant reported, "Local cancer experts worry that actress and popular health guru Suzanne Somers may be sending the wrong signal by opting for an obscure botanical medicine instead of chemotherapy in the wake of breast cancer. 'It disturbs me that someone of such a high profile would say it's OK to skip the chemotherapy,' said Dr. Scott Kurtzman, an associate professor of surgery and a breast cancer specialist at the UConn Health Center." An article at CNN.com (March 30) titled "Somers' cancer treatment worries some experts" quoted Susan Love, MD of the Susan Love MD Breast Cancer Foundation: "The implication is it's just as good and that it's just as proven and that somehow is an alternative, a viable alternative to chemotherapy, and that's really not so right now." In a statement released on March 30, Somers said "The course of treatment I have chosen is a totally personal one and takes into consideration my own type of cancer. In no way do I advocate that any other individual make this same decision. I urge women to consult with their own doctors and oncologists and to pursue the best course of treatment for their specific case. They should fully discuss and consider those recommended options before making any decisions about alternative or complementary treatments." In the past, a celebrity's choice of an alternative cancer treatment (such as actor Steve McQueen and laetrile-metabolic therapy in 1980, actor Michael Landon and nutritional therapy in 1991, and Omni publisher Kathy Keeton and hydrazine sulfate in the mid-1990s) has focused intensive media and public attention on alternative treatments while conventional oncologists have generally derided the celebrity's decision to employ them. Viscum album Iscador Iscador, Somers' treatment of choice, is a form of mistletoe, better known and more widely used in central Europe than in the U.S. It forms the basis of the treatments that are available, among other places, at the Lukas Clinic in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Iscador is the trade name of the most commonly available brand of an extract of Viscum album, a European species of mistletoe, which differs from the North American species. Mistletoe is a semiparasitic plant that lives symbiotically with several tree species, including oak, pine, elm and apple. Considered sacred in ancient times, it has been used for centuries in Europe to treat a variety of acute and chronic health conditions. In 1990, the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), in its extensive report Unconventional Cancer Treatments, included mistletoe in the chapter (#4) on herbal treatments: "Mistletoe has long been used in the treatment of a variety of acute and chronic conditions. It was not widely used for treating cancer, however, until the 1920s, during the early development of Anthroposophy, a modern 'spiritual science' applied to medicine and a variety of other disciplines. At present, mistletoe is given to patients either as the central component of a complex, broader treatment regimen in the practice of Anthroposophic medicine mainly in Europe or as a single agent partially or completely removed from the overall context of Anthroposophic care (e.g., in the United Kingdom and other countries). At present, mistletoe preparations are advocated mainly by Swiss and German physicians practicing Anthroposophic medicine, but are also used by other European physicians not necessarily associated with Anthroposophy. A larger group of researchers in Europe, and to a lesser extent in the United States, has focused on the study of mistletoe's biological properties in various experimental systems." According to the OTA report, "Steiner's work led him to believe that cancer results from imbalances in certain forces affecting the human body. He believed that some of these forces are responsible for cell division, growth, and expansion ('lower organizing forces') and others ('higher organizing processes' or 'formative forces') are responsible for limiting and organizing that growth, controlling cell differentiation, and producing overall body form; it is the balance of these two types of forces that influences the strength or weakness of one's individuality. Steiner believed that in healthy people, such forces are balanced and act in harmony, whereas in people with cancer or in people 'susceptible' to cancer, the higher organizing forces are weak, relative to the lower organizing forces. The resulting imbalance would lead to excess proliferation of cells, loss of form, and eventually tumor production. Steiner believed that cancer involved not only physical disorder in the body, but also disruptions among 'different levels of matter, life, soul, and spirit.'" "In the early 1920s, Steiner proposed mistletoe as a therapeutic agent capable of correcting the imbalance he believed was ultimately responsible for the development of cancer. In general, his proposal was based on the process of what he called 'spiritual science,' in which he combined spiritual and scientific thought as 'complementary' modes of insight. Anthroposophic literature refers to his reportedly extraordinary mental capabilities ('higher faculties of perception,' extrasensory perception, or inner knowledge) as the key element underlying his novel proposal to use mistletoe therapeutically in cancer." Iscador is typically used as a complementary or adjunctive approach: "According to current information, Iscador preparations are used in several specific ways in cancer treatment. The main use of the treatment, and the one for which Anthroposophists claim the best results overall, is in the treatment of solid tumors before and after surgery and radiotherapy. It can be given in an intensive schedule 10 to 14 days before surgery 'to activate the defensive functions,' to 'help prevent metastatic spread' due to surgery, and to promote rapid recovery. Alternatively, it can be given as followup treatment beginning immediately after surgery and continuing over several years in gradually decreasing doses and increasing intervals. Either way, Iscador is claimed to significantly improve survival rates, particularly in cancers of the cervix, ovaries, breast, stomach, colon, and lung. . . "Treatment with Iscador is generally not claimed to result in dramatic destruction of tumors. Instead, it is thought to slow the growth of tumors or even stop tumor growth altogether, and then lead to gradual tumor regression. It is believed that tumor cells may undergo a transformation from malignant forms to semimalignant forms, then to chronic inflammation, and finally to normal forms." Studies of mistletoe against cancer are limited, but more positive effects have been noted in vitro (test tube cell cultures) than in human clinical trials as the OTA study reports: "Several studies have investigated the effects of Iscador, crude mistletoe extracts, and their constituents on the growth of rodent and human cell lines in culture. In most cases, these substances were found to inhibit the growth of cells in culture. The degree of inhibition was found to vary according to the types of cell used, the method of preparation of the extract, the subspecies of mistletoe used, and the type of host tree supporting the mistletoe plant." A lengthy report by the National Cancer Institute summarizes mistletoe's anticancer effects: Extracts of mistletoe have been shown to kill cancer cells in the laboratory and to stimulate the immune system. Three components of mistletoe (lectins, alkaloids, and viscotoxins) may be responsible for its biologic effects. Mixed results have been obtained in animals studies that have investigated the ability of mistletoe extracts to slow tumor growth. There is no evidence from well-designed clinical trials that mistletoe or any of its components are effective treatments for human cancer. Coincidentally with the release of the news about Somers' use of mistletoe, a new study "Alternative medicine use worldwide," by Barrie Cassileth, PhD et al in the April 1, 2001 issue of the American Cancer Society medical journal Cancer, includes a reference to the treatment. According to a Reuters story about the journal study, "mistletoe is used to fight cancer throughout central Europe. Studies have shown that mistletoe can cause redness and itching and does not lead to increased survival." But in An Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide to Cancer, Burton Goldberg et al (in her interview with Larry King, Somers cited one of Goldberg's books as the source of her information about mistletoe), claims positive benefits of Iscador against cancer. For example, "The activity of various immune cells, including NK cells, increases significantly within 24 hours of injecting Iscador." The authors also note, "Two reviews of the clinical research on Iscador have concluded that treatment with Idcador increases both the length and quality of life, stabilizes the cancer, causes tumors to shrink, and improves the overall condition of the patient." Iscador is not licensed by the Food and Drug Administration for sale in the United States but it is available to qualified health practitioners, including the fifty or so who practice Anthroposophical Medicine, and by prescription to patients. Ann's NOTE: Actually I began to feel sorry for Ms. Somers because I am sure she is getting tons of negative feedback as a result of her statements. Additionally, unfortunately, she doesn't know much about cancer and it causes most healthcare professionals to turn off. Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.