The Anti-Cancer and Mass-Resolving Effects of Huazheng Huisheng Dan from Wenbing Tiaobian

In the Qing dynasty physician Wu Jutong's Wenbing Tiaobian (Systematized Identification of Warm Diseases), there is a formula called “Huazheng Huisheng Dan” (Conglomeration-Transforming, Life-Reviving Pill). It is indicated for “dryness qi extending into the lower jiao, spreading into the blood portion and forming Zheng” — a condition largely corresponding to modern gynecological tumors. Yet in fact, judging from its composition, Huazheng Huisheng Dan is a broad-spectrum anti-tumor drug, by no means limited to gynecological tumors.

Huazheng Huisheng Dan is composed as follows: Renshen (Ginseng Radix) six liang (180 g), Annangui (Vietnamese Cinnamon Bark) two liang (60 g), Liangtoujian (Anemone Root) two liang (60 g), Shexiang (Moschus) two liang (60 g), Pianjianghuang (sliced Turmeric) two liang (60 g), Gongdingxiang (Clove) three liang (90 g), Chuanjiaotan (Sichuan Pepper charcoal) two liang (60 g), Mengchong (Gadfly) two liang (60 g), Jing Sanleng (Bur Reed Rhizome) two liang (60 g), Puhuangtan (Cattail Pollen charcoal) one liang (30 g), Zanghonghua (Tibetan Saffron) two liang (60 g), Sumu (Sappan Wood) three liang (90 g), Taoren (Peach Kernel) three liang (90 g), Suzi Shuang (Perilla Seed pulp) two liang (60 g), Wulingzhi (Flying Dragon Faeces) two liang (60 g), Jiangzhenxiang (Rosewood) two liang (60 g), Ganqi (Dried Lacquer) two liang (60 g), Dangguiwei (Angelica tail) four liang (120 g), Moyao (Myrrh) two liang (60 g), Baishao (White Peony Root) four liang (120 g), Xingren (Apricot Kernel) three liang (90 g), Xiangfumi (Cyperus) two liang (60 g), Wuzhuyu (Evodia) two liang (60 g), Yuanhusuo (Corydalis) two liang (60 g), Shuizhi (Leech) two liang (60 g), Awei (Asafoetida) two liang (60 g), Xiaohuixiangtan (Fennel charcoal) three liang (90 g), Chuanxiong (Sichuan Lovage Rhizome) two liang (60 g), Ruxiang (Frankincense) two liang (60 g), Liangjiang (Galangal) two liang (60 g), Aitan (Mugwort charcoal) two liang (60 g), Yimu Gao (Motherwort paste) eight liang (240 g), Shudihuang (Prepared Rehmannia) four liang (120 g), Biejiajiao (Soft-shelled Turtle Shell glue) one jin (480 g), Dahuang (Rhubarb) eight liang (240 g).

Preparation: with the exception of the turtle-shell glue, Motherwort paste and rhubarb, grind all the other herbs together into a fine powder. Take one and a half jin of aged rice vinegar, boil it down to a thick concentrate, dry it in the sun and powder it; then boil again with vinegar and repeat this three times. After the final boiling, dry and powder. Blend the three glue-like substances (turtle shell glue, Motherwort paste and rhubarb) evenly, add refined honey as an excipient, and form into pills, each weighing 1.5 qian (4.5 g), sealed with a wax coat. Take with warm boiled water on an empty stomach. Note: although empty-stomach dosing works somewhat better, it is more irritating to the stomach; if the patient has a weak stomach, taking it after meals is more appropriate.

When Wu Jutong himself discussed the rationale of this formula, he said: “This specifically addresses the case where a minor pathogen has entered the interior, penetrated deeply into the blood portion of the lower jiao, and formed a stubborn, hard-bound chronic disease. If one does not know that network (luo) diseases require a gentle, gradual unblocking method, and instead rashly uses harsh purgation, one will surely commit the error of dispersing a Jia and thereby engendering a Gu. This Gu is a blood-Gu, more common in women, and is an extremely severe and difficult-to-treat pattern; students must prevent it. The method of Huazheng Huisheng Dan treats internal dryness-depletion with bitter-warm, assisted by sweet and pungent, and purges with the bitter. The formula is derived and transformed from the Guizhi Fuling Wan? — actually the Biejiajian Wan of Jingui and the Huisheng Dan. In this formula, Ginseng, Cinnamon, Pepper and Ginger unblock and supplement yang qi; White Peony and Rehmannia securely supplement yin fluids; Motherwort paste unblocks and supplements yin blood while draining water; turtle-shell glue unblocks and supplements liver qi while dispersing Zheng-Jia; all the rest are aromatic, entering the networks to transform turbidity. Moreover, the blood-eating insects — the flying ones travel the qi portion of the networks, the crawling ones travel the blood portion of the networks — can be said to enter every microcrevice and break every hardness. Rhubarb is boiled three times with vinegar so that it is directed to the disease site without harming other viscera. For chronic, hard-bound disease, nothing else will do. Some may object that the formula contains too many herbs. They do not understand the way of using medicinals: when few are used singly, the force is strong and acute; when many are used together, the effect is divided and gentle. The ancients’ formulas for gradual transformation were all like this. As the saying goes, a disciplined army fears not numbers; an undisciplined army is chaotic even when small. This formula, combining vinegar and honey, contains thirty-six ingredients — the dispersing number four times nine, the generating number of metal qi.”

Wu Jutong says this Huazheng Huisheng Dan was derived from two formulas: Biejiajian Wan in the Jingui Yaolüe and Huisheng Dan in Wanbing Huichun. The formula embodies both attacking and supplementing in one, carrying forward the TCM principle of “nourishing the righteous to eliminate accumulation.” It uses a large number of yang-supplementing herbs and a fair number of yin-supplementing herbs; blood-activating herbs and water-draining herbs; purgative herbs and pain-relieving herbs. The formula is therefore comprehensive and complex — a great compound that fuses dispersing cold, moving qi, resolving stasis, draining blood, boosting qi and nourishing the nutritive all in one furnace.

Wu Jutong also calls this disease “an extremely severe and difficult-to-treat pattern.” It is evident that, from ancient times to the present, Chinese medicine has had no especially good method for tumor-type diseases. The consistent TCM principle for such conditions is to treat gently with pills, using long-term oral pills with relatively few side effects that patients can accept. Most of the herbs in this formula have some anti-tumor action, but several are also somewhat toxic, and many have an abortifacient side effect. Patients with hepatic or renal insufficiency and pregnant women should use it cautiously; other patients taking this formula should also periodically recheck liver and kidney function. In addition, because the formula contains many blood-activating herbs, patients with a bleeding tendency should not use it.

In Wu Jutong's formula, Shexiang (musk) is now mostly replaced by artificial musk; natural musk is far too expensive. If compounded at the market price of natural musk, a single batch would cost around 100,000 yuan, which most patients cannot afford. Some proprietary Chinese medicine manufacturers now produce Huazheng Huisheng Dan or Huazheng Huisheng Pian (tablets). However, the composition of some manufacturers’ products is not Wu Jutong’s original formula; patients should carefully check the ingredients when choosing.