The Clinical Significance of Combining Chaihu (Bupleurum) and Huangqin (Scutellaria) in Treating Multiple Cancers

I have personally encountered several cancer patients treated by an elderly TCM physician surnamed Wei in Beijing, who has since disappeared from the profession. The therapeutic results were quite satisfactory; some patients survived for a very long time after his treatment and maintained a good quality of life. Because this physician, despite exhaustive efforts, can no longer be located (so that some of his patients now come to see me instead), I have had to trace his footsteps—seeking out patients he had treated and obtaining his prescriptions from them.

This physician habitually paired Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri) and Huangqin (Radix Scutellariae); in almost every prescription one saw Chaihu 12 g and Huangqin 12 g together. The elderly lymphoma patient I am currently treating, Dr. Li, was once under his care. He told me that when Dr. Wei added Huangqin and Chaihu, he told the patients they were there to protect the liver.

Recently, drawing on Dr. Wei's experience, I have often used Chaihu and Huanghu together, at a customary dose of 12–15 g, with good clinical results. Chaihu and Huangqin are the principal herb pair of the harmonizing formula Xiaochaihu Tang (Minor Bupleurum Decoction), embodying the TCM method of "harmonization." On this basis, I further combine them with the renowned warm-disease formula Shengjiang San (Ascending-Descending Powder) consisting of Pianjianghuang (Rhizoma Curcumae Longae, sliced) 6 g, Chanyi (Periostracum Cicadae) 6 g, and Chao Jiangcan (Bombyx Batryticatus, stir-fried) 10 g. I then modify the formula according to the patient's clinical symptoms. Used for various complications of cancer—such as pleural and ascitic fluid, radiation enteritis and pneumonitis, radiation esophagitis, aphonia, cancer fever, and hepatic or renal insufficiency—the approach has yielded good results and can also prevent colds.

Most noteworthy among them: a liver cancer patient whose ascites completely resolved after three weeks of treatment. A breast cancer patient whose liver function had been severely impaired for months after taking a secret folk herbal formula recovered normal liver function in only about twenty days. A terminal esophageal cancer patient, on a formula based on this approach for less than a month, recovered liver function, regained about 20 jin of body weight rapidly (nearly returning to his pre-illness weight), and saw both radiation pneumonitis and esophagitis well controlled. Another esophageal cancer patient developed aphonia after surgery and radiotherapy and could not speak; following treatment along these lines, his aphonia gradually improved and resolved completely in about three months.

Nowadays, for various cancer patients—those with gastrointestinal cancers, breast cancer, lymphoma, and those who have undergone radiotherapy or chemotherapy—I consider, at the appropriate stage of treatment, combining Chaihu and Huangqin to provide prophylactic protection of liver function. The combination of Chaihu and Huangqin genuinely protects the normal function of the lung, liver and kidney, minimizing the impact of inflammatory complications arising from cancer and its treatment and improving the patient's quality of life.

However, the Chaihu–Huangqin pair has a strong sudorific action. Some patients with deficient constitution develop spontaneous sweating after taking it; prolonged sweating damages yang and exerts a certain negative effect on overall condition. One must therefore, according to the patient's situation, pair them with appropriate tonifying herbs—such as the spleen-focused Dangshen (Codonopsis), the yin-nourishing and kidney-tonifying Dihuang (Rehmannia), Heshouwu (Polygonum Multiflorum) and Huangjing (Polygonatum), and even immunity-boosting Lingzhi (Ganoderma) and Huangqi (Astragalus)—so that the harsh side effects of Chaihu and Huangqin do not bring about changes mid-treatment.

Chaihu and Huangqin are key harmonizing herbs of the Shaoyang channel. The Shaoyang channel is the body's crucial pivot; diseases entering from the exterior into the interior, or issuing from the interior to the exterior, all pass through Shaoyang. Modern pharmacological analysis shows that both Chaihu and Huangqin have marked anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-tumor and hepatoprotective and cholagogic effects. As a tumor grows, it continually invades normal tissue, and the accompanying inflammation and excessive histamine release impair quality of life, so that some cancer patients are tormented by cancer fever and cancer pain. Early use of Chaihu and Huangqin can effectively reduce the probability of such complications.

This therapeutic idea embodies the "twisting and intercepting therapy" advocated by the late renowned Shanghai physician Prof. Jiang Chunhua. Although Jiang's idea was at the time criticized by such TCM luminaries as Prof. Zhao Shaoqin, my clinical experience convinces me that, when treating cancer patients, fully applying the TCM notion of "treating disease before it arises"—proactively twisting and intercepting complications that the patient is likely to develop—has positive value. Verified in the clinic, it genuinely helps patients.