Antike Capsule, a Commonly Used Anti-Cancer Patent Medicine

Antike Jiaonang (Antike Capsule) is a commonly used anti-cancer patent medicine whose ingredients include Chanpi (toad skin) and Danggui. It is commonly used for blood-stasis patterns of esophageal cancer and advanced primary liver cancer, as adjuvant therapy during chemotherapy for mid-to-late gastric cancer, or alone for advanced digestive-tract tumors. Antike Capsule can improve patients' quality of life and prolong survival, though the probability of cure is low. Antike Capsule is a Class B medical-insurance drug, reimbursable, which eases the financial burden on patients.

But Antike Capsule has a serious drawback: some patients easily develop vomiting and diarrhea after taking it, because the Chanpi (toad skin) it contains has this side effect. Most insurance-covered patent medicines are too simply composed, without comprehensive consideration of side effects or counterbalancing strategies. Patients who develop the above side effects may combine it with other patent medicines—for example, Shugao Hewei Wan (Liver-Soothing, Stomach-Harmonizing Pill), Ping Wei Wan (or Xiangsha Pingwei Wan), or Er Chen Wan—downbearing-rebellion and anti-emetic medicines. Such combination can effectively reduce Antike Capsule's side effects.

The huachansu (cinobufagin) in toad skin has some inhibitory effect on many tumor cell lines, and folk tradition has many single proven recipes using toad to treat cancer. But nowadays most people live in cities, and finding toads is not easy; moreover, for ordinary people self-treating cancer with toad is not only psychologically hard to accept (toads smell foul; one patient once tried a folk recipe of toad boiled with duck eggs, and the whole building reeked of the toad), but also easily leads to poisoning. The toad-derived ingredient in patent medicines has passed phase III clinical trials and been shown relatively safe for humans. Using Antike Capsule instead of raw toad is therefore safer.

Toad products can also trigger heart problems. If a patient taking a toad-containing patent medicine develops palpitations or other adverse reactions, stop immediately, observe for 1-3 days; if the side effects resolve, no further treatment is needed, but the patient should not continue the medicine and should switch to another anti-cancer regimen. If the side effects do not resolve on their own, seek medical care promptly.

Although Antike Capsule has some inhibitory effect on tumors, its relief of the patient's current symptoms may be inferior to pattern-differentiated formulas. For example, common esophageal-cancer symptoms such as inability to swallow, eating in the morning and vomiting in the evening, vomiting in the morning food eaten in the evening, and hiccups must be treated together with pattern-differentiated formulas.