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This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor in Chief following a report by the institute of one of the co-authors, King's College London. Following concerns raised by Dr A.J. Pelosi and Professor D.F. Marks, King's College London organized a committee to analyse data relevant to personality and physical health outcomes and to ascertain (as far as possible) whether this and related publications were safe in terms of presenting scientifically rigorous results relating personality factors with cancer, coronary heart disease, and other outcomes. The report stated that, "The committee did not have access to any data but have carried out an assessment based on the current literature which includes peer reviewed papers and reviews from critics as well as from collaborators. We also identified some attempted replications of the results either from data available on the jointly authored studies or new studies (for example, Amelang, SchmidtRathjens et al., 1996; Amelang 1997)." The Committee concluded that the results and conclusions of these studies are unsafe and recommended retraction. The report in full is available here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/statements/docs/hans-eysenck-enquiry-final-may-2019.pdf. Having reviewed the Committee's report, the Editor in Chief decided to retract the article. The corresponding author is unfortunately deceased but has previously published a rebuttal to critics of his work with R. Grossarth-Maticek (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1449072?seq=1). The second author has objected to the retraction of the paper and has previously rebutted (https://www.krebs-chancen.de/referenzen-und-gutachten/denunziation-englisch) papers by Dr A. J. Pelosi (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1359105318822045) and Professor D. F. Marks (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1359105318820931) published in the Journal of Health Psychology outlining concerns and asking for an investigation into the data by H.J. Eysenck and R. Grossarth-Maticek.

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BACKGROUND: Mistletoe preparations such as Iscador are in common use as complementary/anthroposophic medications for many cancer indications, particularly for solid cancers. Efficacy of this complementary therapy is still discussed controversially. OBJECTIVE: Does the long-term therapy with Iscador show any effect on survival or psychosomatic self-regulation of patients with corpus uteri cancer? PATIENTS AND METHODS: Prospective recruitment and long-term follow-up in the following 4 controlled cohort studies. (1) Two randomized matched-pairs studies: corpus uteri cancer patients without (30 pairs) and with distant metastases (26 pairs) that never used any kind of mistletoe therapy were matched for prognostic factors. By pairwise random allocation, one of the patients was suggested mistletoe therapy to be applied by the attending physician. (2) Two non-randomized matched-pairs studies: corpus uteri cancer patients without (103 pairs) and with distant metastases (95 pairs) that already received mistletoe (Iscador) therapy were matched by the same criteria to control patients without Iscador therapy. RESULTS: Concerning overall survival in the randomized studies, a significant effect in favour of Iscador therapy was present only in the first study, the second showed no evidence for an effect: estimate of the hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval: 0.36 (0.16, 0.82) and 1.00 (0.46, 2.16) respectively. In the non-randomized studies, the results that adjusted for relevant prognostic variables were: 0.41 (0.26, 0.63), and 0.61 (0.39, 0.93). The effect of therapy with Iscador within 12 months on psychosomatic self-regulation as a measure of autonomous coping with the disease shows a significant rise in the Iscador group against the control group in the randomized as well as in the non-randomized study on patients with corpus uteri cancer without metastases: estimate of the median difference and 95% confidence interval: 0.40 (0.15, 0.70) and 0.70 (0.25, 1.15) respectively. CONCLUSION: The mistletoe preparation Iscador in these studies has the effect of prolonging overall survival of corpus uteri cancer patients. Psychosomatic self-regulation as a measure of autonomous coping with the disease, rises significantly more under Iscador therapy than under conventional therapy alone.

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OBJECTIVE: Expanded presentation and re-analysis of previously published data of randomized and non-randomized studies on mistletoe therapy with breast cancer patients [3, 4]. The main question is: Does a re-analysis confirm the previously reported effects of prolonging the survival of patients with breast cancer under long-term application of a complementary/anthroposophic therapy with the European mistletoe preparation Iscador? DATA SOURCES: (1) Randomised matched-pairs study: Breast cancer patients with only lymphatic metastases (17 pairs) that had never used mistletoe therapy were matched for several prognostic factors. By paired random allocation, one patient of a pair received a suggestion of mistletoe therapy to be applied by the attending physician. (2) Non-randomised matched-pairs studies: Patients that had already received mistletoe (Iscador) therapy were matched to control patients from the same pool using the same prognostic criteria. Three groups were recruited by this procedure: breast cancer with local recurrences and no metastases (42 pairs), breast cancer with only lymphatic metastases (55 pairs), and breast cancer with distant metastases (83 pairs). ANALYSIS: Cox proportional hazard models and sensitivity analyses based on subsets of the original data sets according to strict or lose application of the matching criteria. RESULTS: The results of this re-analysis are consistent with the earlier results, even when comparing different methods and subsets. In the randomised study, the effect of long-term Iscador therapy on overall survival is significantly in favour of the Iscador therapy: Estimate of the median difference and 95 % confidence interval in years 2.5 (0.83, 4.50). The results for the non-randomised studies were also in favour of the Iscador therapy: Breast cancer with local recurrences and no metastases: estimate of hazard ratio and 95 % confidence interval 0.52 (0.23, 1.17); breast cancer with lymphatic metastases: 0.27 (0.15, 0.50); breast cancer with distant metastases: 0.53 (0.32, 0.88). As a short-term effect of this therapy, psychosomatic self-regulation noticeably increases within 3 months in the Iscador group in comparison to the control group in the randomised study: estimate of the median difference 0.90 (0, 1.75). CONCLUSION: The re-analysis demonstrates that the effects shown in the previously published data are consistent despite using different analytic methods and different subsets. Overall, the survival of patients receiving mistletoe treatment with Iscador is longer in these studies. In the short term, psychosomatic self-regulation, as a measure of autonomous coping with the disease, rises more under Iscador therapy than under conventional therapy alone.

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Most established risk factors for chronic disease incidence and mortality from cancer, such as cigarette smoke, alcohol drinking, occupational and environmental hazards and dietary factors, have been shown to vary in their importance in terms of relative risk. In studies which addressed the individual level of behaviour, but also coping and self-regulation, a strong modifying effect of long-lasting hopelessness and helplessness has been found to depend on personality. Autonomy and healthful self-regulation have been defined as the regulation of behaviour in those activities which are carried out in the physical and social environment and lead to stimulated feeling, pleasure, perception of inner and social security, and competence. Persons with such well-regulated behaviour are capable of coping with sources of listlessness, uncertainty and instability. Those individuals showing a well-regulated behaviour arrive at a psycho-neuro-physiological basis for better competence and defence against health hazards. The capability determined by the degree of self-regulation is measured with different instruments. The experience with a questionnaire for the assessment of self-regulation, its quantification and predictive value is presented here. The method of study is by prospective approach, which permits the demonstration of causal associations (promotion, co-causality) and facilitates the experimental approach through intervention. A causal association is likely if the effect of a modifier is not only found in a prospective (observational) follow-up but also if the (experimental) intervention shows an effect. The method of intervention by stimulation of self-regulation is the autonomy training developed by Grossarth-Maticek. Using several examples presenting the method, the modifying effect is shown by referring to four risk factors. If the risk factors are associated with an inhibited self-regulation, then the effect in terms of disease and pathological outcome is stronger. This was shown with the hazardous effects of smoking, alcohol drinking and dietary malnutrition as well as with automobile exhaust. It may be important, for example, whether a person feels self-determined when driving a car for hours but does not need to consume ethanol-containing drinks for feeling well. One's own capability to regulate well over time apparently modulates functions of the body and hence modifies the effects of physical factors. In epidemiological studies, which assess mostly only exogenous factors (so called established risk factors) this evidence has to be considered by including the pertinent data on the relevant questions in each field study.

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CONTEXT: In anthroposophical medicine, total extracts of Viscum album (mistletoe) have been developed to treat cancer patients. The oldest such product is Iscador. Although Iscador is regarded as a complementary cancer therapy, it is the most commonly used oncological drug in Germany. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether Iscador treatment prolongs survival time of patients with carcinoma of the colon, rectum, or stomach; breast carcinoma with or without axillary or remote metastases; or small cell or non-small-cell bronchogenic carcinoma; and to explore synergies between Iscador treatment and psychosomatic self-regulation. DESIGN: Prospective nonrandomized and randomized matched-pair studies nested within a cohort study. SETTING: General community in Germany. PARTICIPANTS: 10,226 cancer patients involved in a prospective long-term epidemiological cohort study, including 1668 patients treated with Iscador and 8475 who had taken neither Iscador nor any other mistletoe product (control patients). INTERVENTION: Iscador. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Survival time. RESULTS: In the nonrandomized matched-pair study, survival time of patients treated with Iscador was longer for all types of cancer studied. In the pool of 396 matched pairs, mean survival time in the Iscador groups (4.23 years) was roughly 40% longer than in the control groups (3.05 years; P < .001). Synergies between Iscador treatment and self-regulation manifested in a longer survival advantage for Iscador patients with good self-regulation (56% relative to control group; P = .03) than for patients with poor self-regulation. Results of the 2 randomized matched-pair studies largely confirmed the results of the non-randomized studies. CONCLUSION: Iscador treatment can achieve a clinically relevant prolongation of survival time of cancer patients and appears to stimulate self-regulation.

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Some 8059 healthy women (mean age 58 years) were studied in 1973 with the aim of establishing the presence or absence of a variety of physical and psychological risk factors for mammary cancer. Mortality was established in 1988. factor predictors were highly significant. Physical risk factors were more predictive than psychological ones, but both interacted synergistically to predict mortality. Alone, psychological (stress) factors had little effect, while-physical factors did. However, psychological factors seemed to potentiate the effect of physical factors, particularly in the middle range. The causal relevance of psychological factors was established in a special intervention study using autonomy training as a method of prophylactic therapy and comparing outcome with the effects of no therapy (control).

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In this study, 6,386 males and 5,990 females, with a mean age of 55 years, constituting a random sample, were administered questionnaires by interviewers relating to amount of self-regulation and drinking status. They were then followed up over a 20-yr. period, and health status (living well, chronically ill, or deceased) was ascertained. It was hypothesized that the deleterious effect of alcohol would be worse for those low on self-regulation; that health status would be worse for those in whom drinking diminished self-regulation, as compared with those for whom drinking improved self-regulation; and that smoking would have greater effects in lowering health status in those in whom drinking diminished self-regulation than in those in whom drinking improved self-regulation. All predictions were borne out by the data at high statistical significance. The results confirmed findings from an earlier study to the effect that psychological factors like self-regulation powerfully influence the kind of effects drinking has with respect to health.

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This study examines the predictive accuracy of four different methods of administration of a questionnaire designed to predict cancer and coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy probands. The method of administration uses the establishment of trust and the explanation of questions as variables in all four possible combinations, i.e. trust and explanation, trust only, explanation only, and neither, the prediction being that the combination of trust and explanation would produce the most accurate prediction, the treatment using neither the worst prediction, with methods using either trust alone or explanation alone intermediate. The criterion was the successful prediction of cancer and CHD. A total population of 3563 men and women was used, and followed up over 15 years, death certificates being used to establish cause of death. As predicted, the combination of trust and explanation did best, use of neither worst. Explanation seemed more important than trust, and the combination seemed to have a synergistic effect. It is apparent that method of administration had an important effect on the outcome of the experiment.

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We have tested the hypothesis in this study that different methods of administering a questionnaire produce differential approximations to truthful admission of undesirable personality traits and behaviours. Four different methods of administration produced different levels of trust and understanding, using the current prediction among healthy subjects of death by cancer or coronary heart disease 13 years later as the criterion. There were significant differences in the accuracy of the predictions, depending crucially on the method of administration of the questionnaires. Best predictions were achieved for subjects when both trust and understanding had been increased by interviewers' suitable participation; worst results were achieved for subjects when no special effort was made to increase either. Intermediate results were found for procedures which increased either trust or understanding. It is argued that the success or failure of studies investigating the influence of personality and stress on diseases like cancer and coronary heart disease may depend crucially on the adopted method of interrogation.

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Alcohol consumption is a well-known risk factor for cancer, coronary heart disease (CHD), and various other diseases. It is here suggested that motivational factors may be important in mediating any effects of drinking on health. In particular, the hypothesis was tested that drinking to drown one's sorrows (S-type) was much more a risk factor than pleasure drinking (P-type). A total of 1,706 men were tested and followed for 13 years, when death and cause of death were established. The hypothesis was supported for all levels of drinking. In addition, subjects were divided into those 900 who were under stress at the beginning of the study and those 806 who were not. Stress and drinking combined in a complex fashion to form a risk factor for disease, and motivation combined with both in the predicted direction.

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Risk factors for cancer have been found in the past to act synergistically in a number of studies. However, these studies were not always designed to test the hypothesis of synergism, and have sometimes failed to equate for important variables, which might influence the results. The present study tests the hypothesis that psychosocial variables and physical ones (personality/stress, smoking, and genetic predisposition) interact in a synergistic fashion in the causation of lung cancer and coronary heart disease (CHD).

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A theory is presented relating the consumption of stimulant and depressant drugs to cancer and coronary heart disease, with stress/personality acting as an intermediary. The predictions from the theory that large-scale consumption of Coca-Cola would prevent cancer and promote coronary heart disease was tested and found to be supported by the results of a long-scale prospective study. Results replicate those from an earlier study using coffee as a stimulant drug.

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One-hundred and ninety-two probands were selected on the basis of personality questionnaires as being cancer-prone (100) or CHD-prone (92). They were then randomly divided into a control and a treatment group, the latter receiving a special kind of behaviour therapy attempting to change the personality patterns in the direction of a healthier, more autonomous personality. Follow-up after 10 and 13 years disclosed significantly lower death rates in probands receiving prophylactic treatment than in controls. Of special interest was the degree of sclerosis in the fundus of the eye, rateds on a 3-point scale. This was significantly higher prior to therapy in the CHD-prone group than in the cancer-prone group. Treatment reduced the degree of sclerosis, particularly in the CHD group; lack of treatment was followed by an increase in sclerosis. Similar but less marked changes were found in the cancer-prone group. Clearly psychological treatment affects significantly bodily functions associated with CHD. Other risk factors considered were systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood cholesterol and blood sugar, all of which, together with personality, influenced the degree of sclerosis observed.

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This paper describes a novel method of behaviour therapy applied to cancer-prone and coronary heart disease-prone patients in a prophylactic manner, to reduce the probability of their dying of cancer or coronary heart disease. The treatment can also be applied to patients already suffering from cancer in order to prolong their lives. The methods used are described in considerable detail, together with the rationale leading to their adoption. In Part II of this paper are the results of several studies showing that the methods are surprisingly successful in preventing death in cancer-prone and coronary heart disease-prone probands, and prolonging life in patients already suffering from terminal disease.

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In this article we consider the effectiveness of creative novation behaviour therapy in preventing cancer and coronary heart disease in disease-prone probands, and also its effectiveness in extending life for patients suffering from terminal cancer. In all cases, suitably matched controls are provided as part of the general methodology, and results are reported to testify to the effectiveness of the therapy, whether administered a long-term individual therapy, group therapy, or bibliotherapy plus short-term individual treatment. We also consider the negative effects of psychoanalysis on outcome.

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