Patients With Non-Localized Cancer Choosing Palliative Radiotherapy Should Beware of Bone Metastasis

So far I have encountered three non-localized cancer patients who, on their physicians' advice, all underwent palliative radiotherapy, and without exception the results were poor. In one, the disease metastasized and worsened faster while radiotherapy was being given; in another, the disease had been well controlled by chemotherapy and Chinese medicine before radiotherapy but deteriorated rapidly afterward; in the third, the patient was paralyzed after radiotherapy.

Palliative radiotherapy is one of the common clinical measures for late-stage cancer patients with bone metastasis, and is a treatment approach used for many kinds of cancer. But radiotherapy has strong side effects; it greatly changes the patient's constitution and can accelerate cancer metastasis. Once a cancer patient has entered the non-localized stage with distant spread, choosing palliative radiotherapy must be done with caution.

For cancer patients with localized disease and no spread, giving a certain dose of radiation to the involved field after surgery and chemotherapy can effectively block further tumor spread. But if the patient already has distant metastasis and then receives palliative radiotherapy, the side effects mean the patient must take on great risk.

Previously there was a soft-tissue tumor patient whose metastasis accelerated during radiotherapy. When I discussed it with him I suggested stopping radiotherapy, but he was young and his will to survive was strong, so he insisted on continuing; he unfortunately deteriorated within a short time and died. Another small-cell lung-cancer patient—I had advised her to take standard Western treatment first and then Chinese medicine—deteriorated faster after radiotherapy. Another bone-metastasis patient became paralyzed after radiotherapy and then died.

Radiotherapy solves the local problem, but its side effects change the patient's constitution, lower immunity, and accelerate the spread of cancer cells. For patients whose cancer has already spread and is liable to further involve tissues such as the lungs, bones, and thyroid, palliative radiotherapy may bring greater risk; even ordinary radiographic examinations carry the risk of carcinogenesis in lung, bone, and thyroid tissues.

The pain of bone metastasis is one of the unbearable sufferings of late-stage cancer patients, but controlling bone-metastasis pain with Chinese herbs works quite well—it only requires the patient to endure a little while. Generally, to bring bone-metastasis pain under control, taking Chinese herbs takes about a week to a month; during this period one may combine some painkillers, and it is not necessary to resort to radiotherapy. In my treatment experience, Chinese herbs can not only control bone-metastasis pain but also lower the bone-metastasis-related cancer markers to normal levels, so that the metastasis almost stops progressing.