Though the mistletoe plant has since-long been known to propel festive fervor during Christmas holidays, researchers from Germany have lately discovered that an extract of the plant can not only help fight bowel cancer, but also bring about a significant reduction in the side effects of toxic chemotherapy.

Going by a recent report in the Daily Mail, the extract of mistletoe - used over and above the conventional treatment - apparently boosts the body's immune system to help it fight tumors as well as expedite the clearance of toxic 'debris' that results from chemotherapy.

The German researchers' findings were based on the observation of 429 cancer patients who had been administered the mistletoe jab, vis-à-vis 375 patients who received conventional care.

The researchers noted that the patients who had mistletoe treatment regularly injected into their blood showed much fewer side-effects from toxic chemotherapy and radiotherapy and they also had a longer life span, as compared to those who received traditional treatment alone.

Vouching for the effectiveness of the mistletoe treatment, a 53-year-old north-east woman, Joan van Holsteijn, who had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 18 months ago, said that mistletoe therapy cleared her cancer.

However, even though Joan has credited the mistletoe plant for her successful fight against cancer, she said: "I think it can give people hope. I've heard it described as easing cancer, which I think is the best way to put it."