Doctor Shang's Experience with Fumigation-Inhalation Anti-Cancer Therapy in Pingdingshan, Henan

An elderly doctor named Shang from Pingdingshan, Henan (to avoid disturbing him, his personal information will not be disclosed in detail), is now retired. Before retirement, he was a TCM physician at a hospital in Pingdingshan. He once used a unique fumigation-inhalation therapy he had learned from folk sources to treat multiple cancer patients, with remarkable results. Dr. Shang has read my WeChat public account articles for many years. After reading one of my articles and feeling inspired, he did not want his therapeutic experience to be lost, so he decided to pass his cancer treatment experience on to me.

However, the various Chinese medicinal herbs Dr. Shang used are all highly toxic substances. Under current drug management policies, these herbs have been banned. Therefore, the formulas he used may no longer be dispensable; medicinal material markets, pharmacies, and hospitals are no longer permitted to sell these drugs. But his therapeutic method and medication do have research value, so I have recorded them and will disseminate them on his behalf. Perhaps if policies change in the future, they may still benefit patients, or some qualified research institutions may be interested and apply to conduct related studies.

The most critical element of Dr. Shang's treatment is a fumigation-inhalation formula he called "anti-cancer smoke." This folk single formula was found by Dr. Shang when he was young working at a hospital in Henan. In 1966, Dr. Shang learned that a cervical cancer patient named Qiao from Xincai, Henan, had been diagnosed with cervical cancer at Henan Provincial People's Hospital, with abdominal pain and bleeding before diagnosis. After being treated by a village doctor surnamed Xu in her village with fumigation-inhalation therapy, her symptoms improved after the first treatment. After three treatments, the bleeding stopped and clinical symptoms completely disappeared; four years of follow-up showed no recurrence.

The prescription used by that village doctor was: hongpi (red arsenic) 0.2 fen (0.6g), qingfen (calomel) 0.2 fen, hongfen (red powder (a mercuric oxide preparation)) 0.2 fen, shexiang (musk) 0.2 fen, xiangmo (incense ash from temple burning) 0.3 fen. First, the red arsenic was placed in bean-stem fire (note: in rural Henan, bean stalks are used as firewood; after the open flame dies, embers remain—"bean-stem fire" here refers to the residual embers from burning bean stalks) and roasted for two hours. It was then removed and placed in an iron vessel, soaked while hot with a small amount of vinegar (just enough to submerge the red arsenic). After drying, the red arsenic was taken out and ground together with calomel, red powder, and musk into a fine powder, then mixed with the incense ash and water. The mixture was made into medicine sticks about the thickness of chopsticks and approximately 12 cm long, then sun-dried for use. When used, the stick was lit and its smoke was used to fumigate the nostrils. If the patient felt like vomiting after fumigation, it could be paused briefly and resumed after the patient recovered.

This method may cause dizziness, dry cough, increased stool frequency with sticky stools, and blistering and pain in the nostrils and mouth; generally no treatment is needed. Because the formula contains musk, which loses efficacy over time, it is best to prepare musk fresh. To reduce irritation to the mouth and nose, the patient should ideally hold water in the mouth during treatment.

In 2003, Dr. Shang began using a modified version of this formula to treat several cancer patients with effectiveness. His modified formula was as follows: xuejie (Dragon's blood) 1g, badou (Croton seed) 1g, qingfen (calomel) 1g, hongfen (red powder) 1g, daji (Euphorbia) 1g, yuanhua (Daphne genkwa) 1g, baijiezi (White mustard seed) 1g, chansu (Toad venom) 1g, baihujiao (White pepper) 1g, pishuang (Arsenic trioxide) 1g, maqianzi (Strychnos seed) 1g, chuanshanjia (Pangolin scales) 1g, mahuang (Ephedra) 3g, shanglu (Phytolacca) 2g, chuanxiong (Ligusticum) 5g, chenxiang (Aquilaria) 1g. Total 23g, plus xiangmo (incense ash) 50g, ground together into powder.

For each application, 8g of the above powder was taken, 0.2g of musk was added, and the mixture was formed into a mass with baiji (Bletilla) water, rolled into a stick the thickness of a chopstick. After natural drying, it was lit and the smoke was used to fumigate the nose, once every 5–7 days.

In 2009, Dr. Shang used this method to treat a lung cancer patient named Li from Yu County, Henan. In addition to the anti-cancer fumigation, he also prescribed some symptomatic oral medication based on Li's symptoms. After about two months of treatment, Li's cancer lesion disappeared. Dr. Shang still retains Li's films from before and after treatment; comparing the two films, the therapeutic effect is immediately obvious.

I also encountered another patient with advanced lung cancer who was treated with a similar method, but he used arsenic alone: 0.5–1g of arsenic trioxide each time, placed in a narrow-necked bottle. The bottom of the bottle was heated to volatilize the arsenic, and the patient inhaled the arsenic fumes through the opening. At the same time, the patient took 1–3g of croton seed boiled with 10–20 jujubes as an oral decoction, to promote rapid excretion of arsenic toxicity from the body and avoid poisoning. This patient used this method to save himself; by the time I encountered him, he had survived symptom-free for five years. Later contact was lost and follow-up could not continue.

The red arsenic, calomel, and red powder used by Dr. Shang are all highly toxic substances controlled by special legal regulations, containing mainly arsenic compounds and mercury compounds. They indeed have significant anti-cancer effects; arsenic trioxide (pishuang) has also become a specific drug for treating leukemia. These poisons have an extremely high fatal rate when taken orally and are now completely unobtainable. But this unconventional treatment method is well worth referencing and researching.

Inhalation therapy has advantages over oral therapy: drugs can travel directly from the pulmonary circulation to the systemic circulation. Especially for lung cancer patients, this treatment method has advantages over oral medication—the drug can reach the lesion directly, and inhalation can also reduce the side effects of poisons on other organs. It would be a great pity if such a treatment method were lost. I have recorded it without presumption, hoping that someone in the future may conduct research based on this account.