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The Raphael Clinic of Maryland, Individualized Human-Centered Healthcare, Mistletoe for Cancer

Our Vision is to promote optimal well being by accompanying each cancer patient on his/her path to healing by providing education and individualized, safe, state-of-the-art integrative medical care.

The fulfillment of our vision and mission is based on the beliefs:

  • That well-being is a state of harmony in body, mind, and spirit 
  • That knowledge is the key to collaboration, responsible decision making, empowerment, and growth in all areas of life 
  •  That the human body is an awesome living organism, a sacred temple that has an innate capacity for healing when we acquire the knowledge how to listen to its wisdom 
  • Anybody who has this knowledge and is open to change and has a positive attitude can heal him/herself 
  • That each individual encounter is not arbitrary but based on spiritual laws and must be met with respect and compassion 
  • That I commit schooling myself to become an instrument of the healing spirits who assist and guide me to find the optimal and most appropriate way to help my patients
Our Values:
COMPASSION Our patient care is as we would want to be cared for.
INTEGRITY Our standard of care is ethical, legal, responsible, and transparent. Our team works together with the patient, his/her family, and other caregivers in the decision making process.
EXCELLENCE We are highly trained professionals with a long history of experience in integrative oncology. We continue to participate in integrative medical training, sharing our observations and research with our peers and encourage feedback from our colleagues.
ACCOUNTABILITY We take personal responsibility seriously. There is only One who is perfect. If mistakes happen, they are addressed openly and ways to correct them and learn from them are discussed in a supportive way.

The Meaning behind The Raphael Clinic
Raphael (Hebrew: רְפָאֵל, literally translated “It is God who heals”, Ancient Greek: Ραφαήλ) is the archangel responsible for healing. Raphael is the angel mentioned in the Gospel of John, who stirs the water at the healing pool of Bethesda. Raphael is also mentioned in the Book of Tobit. Raphael is a common name for places of healing.
Mistletoe for Cancer
Mistletoe extracts (Viscum album L., VAE) are among the most widely used integrative cancer care treatments, particularly in Europe. They are an old herbal remedy, but were introduced into cancer treatment in 1920 by Rudolf Steiner and Ita Wegman, founders of Anthroposophic Medicine.
Viscum album is a hemiparasitic shrub, growing on different host trees. Different mistletoe preparations are available for the treatment of cancer (currently Abnobaviscum ® , Helixor ® , Iscador ® , Iscucin ® and Lektinol ® ). They are available from different host trees such as oak, apple, pine and others. They are applied parenteral, particularly subcutaneously, but also intravenously, intra-tumorally, intra-pleurally, intra-peritoneally and else.
Several pharmacologically active compounds have been isolated from VAE, such as mistletoe lectins (ML I, II and III), visco-toxins, oligo- and polysaccharides, lipophilic extracts and various others. The most prominent properties of VAE are their cytotoxic and growth-inhibiting effects, in vitro, on a variety of human tumour cell lines, lymphocytes and fibroblasts. The cytotoxic effects of VAE are mainly due to the apoptosis-inducing mistletoe lectins, while the viscotoxins induce necrotic cell death. VAE are also recognized for their immune-modulating activity: In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated activation of monocytes/macrophages, granulocytes, natural killer (NK) cells, T-cells (especially T-helper-cells) and the induction of various cytokines. VAE also possess DNA stabilizing properties, they reduce chromosome damage and improve DNA repair. VAE show antiangiogenetic effects. In animals, VAE displays potent anti-tumor effects when administered either directly into the tumor or systemically. 
Clinical effectiveness of mistletoe extracts in cancer has been investigated in a great number of studies, among these 43 prospective randomized controlled trials. They predominantly report significant clinical benefits. With regard to quality of studies and consistency of results, the best evidence concerning efficacy of mistletoe therapy exists for the improvement of quality of life and improved tolerability of cytoreductive therapies (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery). Regarding survival, a well-designed randomized controlled trial has recently shown a highly significant benefit in advanced pancreatic cancer. Other studies showed similar results. Effectiveness seems to depend on the duration of the mistletoe therapy, in addition to factors relating to dosage, host tree and choice of preparation. Tumor remissions have been repeatedly observed after local application of high dose mistletoe extracts. This finding is consistent with the preclinical research on cytotoxicity and treatment of tumors in animals. During customary low-dose mistletoe therapy, tumor remissions are rare exceptions.
Tumor remissions have therefore been reported primarily in case series and single cases. Highly individualized and comprehensive treatment – individually adjusted and selected dosage, preparation, host tree, injection site, rhythm of administration, and supplementation with other interventions – is regarded to lead to far better health outcomes, according to highly experienced practitioners. This still needs to be investigated. Clinical application of mistletoe extracts is safe, even in high dosages.
Best overview on mistletoe therapy for cancer:
https://www.mistletoe-therapy.org/
http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/mistletoe-pdq 
Scientific information:
https://www.mistletoe-therapy.org/scientific-literature
Viscum and chemotherapeutic drug interactions: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3893555/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27151589
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27239209
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4150026/
http://believebig.org/what-is-mistletoe/ with link to Hopkins trial

ACCEPTS VIRTUAL CLIENTS

Peter Hinderberger MD PA
[email protected]
Phone: 410-296-1202
Fax: 410-296-1239
1122 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 407
Towson, Maryland 21204

March 17, 2024 Filed Under: Accepts virtual clients, Centers of Integrative Medicine, Integrative Internal Medicine Physicians, Maryland, Mistletoe

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