Recent Experience: Combining More Than a Hundred Chinese Herbs to Treat Cancer
Recently, building on my earlier work, I have further refined the formula, combining more than a hundred Chinese herbs to treat adult cancer, with modest results. I now write this article to introduce my experience in prescribing.The Chinese herbs I use include the following: mao-zhao-cao (Radix Ranunculi Ternati), zhi-qiao (Fructus Aurantii), zhi-shi (Fructus Aurantii Immaturus), qing-pi (Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae Viride), chen-pi (Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae), dan-shen (Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae), hou-po (Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis), dang-shen (Radix Codonopsis), yi-yi-ren (Semen Coicis), dou-kou (Fructus Amomi Rotundus), fu-ling (Poria), ru-xiang (Olibanum), mo-yao (Myrrha), xue-jie (Sanguis Draxonis), wu-gong (Scolopendra), quan-xie (Scorpio), pao-shan-jia (processed Manis Squama), san-leng (Rhizoma Sparganii), e-zhu (Rhizoma Curcumae Ezhu), xuan-shen (Radix Scrophulariae), song-bei-mu (Bulbus Fritillariae), tu-bei-mu (Rhizoma Bolbostematis), zhe-bei-mu (Bulbus Fritillariae Thunbergii), duan-mu-li (calcined Concha Ostreae), hai-zao (Sargassum), kun-bu (Ecklonia), san-qi (Radix Notoginseng), bi-hu (Gecko), shan-qiong-chong (Orthomorpha), gan-chan-yi (dried toad skin), shui-zhi (Hirudo), hei-yi-yi (black ant), dang-gui (Radix Angelicae Sinensis), huang-jing (Rhizoma Polygonati), sheng-huang-qi (raw Radix Astragali), shu-fu (Armadillidium), yuan-hu (Rhizoma Corydalis), liang-tou-jian (Rhizoma Anemones Raddeanae), lu-feng-fang (Nidus Vespae), huang-yao-zi (Rhizoma Dioscoreae Bulbiferae), shan-ci-gu (Pseudobulbus Cremastrae), xi-shu-guo (Fructus Camptothecae), qiang-lang-chong (Catharsius), di-bie-chong (Eupolyphaga), mo-han-lian (Herba Ecliptae), nu-zhen-zi (Fructus Ligustri Lucidi), sha-yuan-zi (Semen Astragali Complanati), tu-si-zi (Semen Cuscutae), gou-qi-zi (Fructus Lycii), ding-xiang (Flos Caryophylli), rou-gui (Cortex Cinnamomi), meng-chong (Tabanus), bai-hua-she-she-cao (Herba Hedyotis Diffusae), fa-ban-xia (processed Pinellia), dan-nan-xing (Arisaema cum Bile), shan-dou-gen (Radix Sophorae Subprostratae), chong-lou (Rhizoma Paridis), teng-huang (Gambogium), ku-shen (Radix Sophorae Flavescentis), ji-xing-zi (Semen Impatientis), bai-shao (Radix Paeoniae Alba), huai-shan-yao (Rhizoma Dioscoreae Oppositae), chuan-xiong (Rhizoma Chuanxiong), tao-ren (Semen Persicae), hong-hua (Flos Carthami), bai-ji (Rhizoma Bletillae), fang-feng (Radix Saposhnikoviae), er-cha (Acacia Catechu), bai-zhu (Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae), cang-zhu (Rhizoma Atractylodis), pian-jiang-huang (Curcumae Longae), jiang-can (Bombyx Batryticatus), chan-yi (Periostracum Cicadae), yi-mu-cao (Herba Leonuri), xiang-fu (Rhizoma Cyperi), bie-jia (Carapax Trionycis), gui-ban (Plastrum Testudinis), zao-jiao-ci (Spina Gleditsiae), lian-qiao (Fructus Forsythiae), chai-hu-gen (Radix Bupleuri), huai-niu-xi (Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae), che-qian-zi (Semen Plantaginis), shi-wei (Folium Pyrrosiae), hong-dou-shan (Taxi), qiang-huo (Rhizoma et Radix Notopterygii), du-huo (Radix Angelicae Pubescentis), gui-zhi (Ramulus Cinnamomi), ge-gen (Radix Puerariae), sheng-di (raw Radix Rehmanniae), hu-zhang (Rhizoma Polygoni Cuspidati), da-huang (Radix et Rhizoma Rhei), bo-he (Herba Menthae), ji-nei-jin (Endothelium Corneum Gigeriae Galli), jiao-shan-zha (dry-fructized Fructus Crataegi), pu-gong-ying-gen (Radix Taraxaci), feng-wei-cao (Herba Pteridis), he-tao-qing-pi (green walnut husk), teng-li-gen (Radix Actinidiae Argutae), xian-he-cao (Herba Agrimoniae), ban-zhi-lian (Herba Scutellariae Barbatae), bai-hua-she-she-cao (Herba Hedyotis Diffusae), san-jian-shan (Cephalotaxus), qing-niang-chong, hong-niang-chong, gan-qi (dried Lacquer), zhi-ma-qian-zi (processed Semen Strychni), ren-shen (Radix et Rhizoma Ginseng), xi-yang-shen (Radix Panacis Quinquefolii), shu-di (Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata), ban-mao (Mylabris), she-xiang (Moschus), niu-huang (Calculus Bovis), and so on.After studying the TCM approach to fighting cancer for more than ten years, I believe that TCM treatment of cancer has similarities to, and also differences from, the chemotherapy approach of Western medicine. The traditional TCM approaches of pattern differentiation (bianzheng) and disease differentiation (bianbing) both have merits and shortcomings.The understanding of cancer held by TCM physicians through the ages, although vague, was fundamentally correct regarding the course of this disease.The greatest characteristic of cancer patients is that, as the disease progresses, their constitution worsens; most cancer patients develop varying degrees of anemia, malnutrition, poor digestive function, poor excretory function, cancer fever, cancer pain, and symptoms such as pleural effusion, ascites, pericardial effusion, and pelvic effusion.The foundation of treating cancer is to curb the frenzied proliferation of cancer cells in the body; at the same time, one must address the various complications of cancer, strengthen the patient's sinews and bones, invigorate digestive capacity, boost immunity, control cancer fever, improve urination and defecation, improve the bone marrow's hematopoietic capacity, and prevent tumor rupture and bleeding.When I myself form prescriptions, I use, according to these characteristics of cancer, Chinese herbs with corresponding actions, combined into formulas for treatment. Prescribing follows the approach of supporting the righteous and securing the root, activating blood and resolving stasis, softening hardness and dispersing nodules, attacking poison with poison, dissipating phlegm and draining water, cooling blood and stopping bleeding, and fortifying the spleen and kidney. I continually adjust the dosages of the various herbs and revise the prescription according to the feedback after the patient takes it. Although the prescription is revised again and again, the herbs used for different categories of cancer patients are basically the same; some patients show obvious effects after taking the medicine, regardless of the type of cancer.If one gets trapped in the routines of TCM pattern differentiation, the treatment of cancer becomes an unfathomable matter; in reality, treating cancer according to the pattern-differentiation approach has major defects. Because each cancer, depending on the location of its lesion, presents different clinical symptoms, treating it by TCM pattern differentiation would inevitably produce a great variety of methods. But in practice, when treating cancer with internally administered Chinese herbs, one can use the same approach to give the same treatment to various different cancers, without needing, by the convention of pattern differentiation, to adopt different methods.Nevertheless, a TCM physician with a high level of pattern differentiation is indeed very helpful in treating the various complications of cancer patients. In the treatment of certain tumors, very good results can also be achieved through the TCM pattern-differentiation approach, which cannot be denied. So TCM physicians treating tumors need to strive to raise their level of pattern differentiation. The reason I emphasize the importance of disease differentiation is that, with the concrete disease of tumors, one must not be bound by traditional understanding.The same Western chemotherapeutic drug can be used for many different cancers; the way internally administered Chinese herbs act after entering the body is no different in principle from Western chemotherapeutic drugs—both act through a series of biochemical reactions. Internally administered Chinese herbs can, like Western chemotherapeutic drugs, be effective against different cancers.It is precisely upholding this idea that I have carried out a series of clinical studies. Practice has proved that treating cancer this way not only makes the principle of treatment clear but also makes the therapeutic effect reproducible; it is a reliable path worth exploring.In the past I also had effective experiences using a few simple herbs or a single herb, but overall the probability of a single herb being effective is too low. So over these years I have been trying every means to raise the effective rate. Although increasingly complex combinations of herbs seem cumbersome, the effective rate has been greatly improved; I will continue to explore in this direction.Complex prescribing requires special attention to safety; one must treat the patient's specific situation concretely, and cannot use the same dosages for all patients. Some patients need lighter dosages and some heavier; some need more supplementing herbs, and some may use more of the somewhat toxic antitumor herbs. The level of a physician's clinical skill lies precisely in grasping this balance of weight and lightness, which must be built on accumulated clinical experience and can only come slowly; it cannot be rushed.