Three Medical Cases of Treating Lung Cancer and Pulmonary Nodules Using the “Same Disease, Same Treatment” Approach
Since the pandemic last year, I have remotely admitted four patients with lung cancer or pulmonary nodules who had received no Western medical treatment, and whose patients and families were unwilling to pursue Western treatment. In all four cases I did not perform the traditional four diagnostic methods of TCM (inspection, auscultation-olfaction, inquiry and palpation); relying only on Western diagnostic data and a detailed online inquiry, I applied the same TCM treatment method to all four, and they took exactly the same medicines. Except for one patient who was already in the terminal stage and in too severe a condition when seeking help, giving a poor therapeutic result, the other three patients achieved fair results.
Among these three patients: one diagnosed with lung cancer was treated and the tumor completely disappeared; one diagnosed with lung cancer was treated and tumor growth was controlled, with no change on re-examination one year later; and one patient with a pulmonary nodule (suspected lung cancer), after about two months of treatment, had the pulmonary nodule shrink by half, and the frequent dry cough and other clinical symptoms previously caused by the nodule completely disappeared.
In the same period, I also admitted several lung cancer patients who had already received Western treatment. Although some of them also achieved a certain effect, it was very difficult to match the excellent results of these three patients who had not received Western treatment. The reason may be that, after repeated Western treatment, the patients’ cancer cells have evolved to be very stubborn and difficult to deal with. Under the assault of multiple treatments, cancer cells are constantly evolving to evade the inhibition of their proliferation by human medicine; therefore, cancer cells in patients who have undergone repeated treatments of various kinds are often more drug-resistant than those in patients newly diagnosed.
Traditional TCM emphasizes "treating the same disease with different methods" or "treating different diseases with the same method", and rarely mentions "treating the same disease with the same method"—that is, applying one and the same treatment method to the same disease. But after Professor Tu Youyou extracted artemisinin from Qinghao (Artemisia annua) and used it to treat malaria, a cure rate of 100% was achieved—a cure rate beyond the reach of the vast majority of doctors. This also shows that combining traditional Chinese medicine with modern medicine and exploring the path of "same disease, same treatment" is also a feasible road.
Of course, this does not deny the rationality of the TCM principles of "treating the same disease with different methods" and "treating different diseases with the same method". These approaches individualize treatment for each patient and have their own rationality; tested in clinical practice, they indeed have practical value. It is only that, in addition to them, we should also pay attention to exploring the experience of "same disease, same treatment". "Same disease, same treatment" can not only standardize the treatment of certain specific diseases, making them easier to learn and apply, but also connect with modern evidence-based medicine: by continuously accumulating data, treatment plans can be improved and the effective rate raised.
Lung cancer is today the cancer with the highest incidence in society. I specialize in TCM anti-cancer research; through referrals from patients I have treated, quite a few lung cancer patients have sought my help, giving me the clinical opportunity to study TCM treatment of lung cancer using the "same disease, same treatment" approach. I once spent many years studying lung cancer using the ideas of "treating different diseases with the same method" and "treating the same disease with different methods", but the results were not ideal and it was difficult to obtain reproducible efficacy. Therefore, in the last five years I have focused on research into "same disease, same treatment"; on the contrary, using the same approach, I have successively treated dozens of lung cancer patients with effect.
Besides the three patients mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are also some previously treated lung cancer patients with good results; among them, after the tumor disappeared, some have been followed for more than three years without recurrence. However, because I adjust the formulas appropriately every half a month based on feedback data from most patients, the medicines used by earlier patients are not identical to those used by current patients; nor will future patients use exactly the same medicines as current patients, because I am still continuously improving my treatment plan.
The approach I currently use mainly combines the TCM strategy of supporting the healthy and securing the root with that of attacking toxin and dissipating nodules. Using some twenty herbs—Huangqi (Astragalus), Huangjing (Polygonatum), Danggui (Angelica), Yiyiren (Coix seed), Chansu (toad venom), Banmao (Lytta/Mylabris), Shanqiao worm, Dingxiang (clove), Dilong (earthworm), Baiji (Bletilla), Ezhu (Curcuma zedoaria), Xianhecao (Agrimonia), Guangcigu (Cremastra appendiculata), and others—I form a compound made into pills and powders, taken directly with water or filled into capsules. At the same time, the patient takes the medicine for five days and stops for two days; I instruct the patient to have liver and kidney function checked regularly, and adjust the dosage according to the liver and kidney indices, to ensure the safety of treatment and avoid major damage to the patient’s body. I also tell the patient to quit smoking and alcohol, avoid spicy and greasy foods, pickled foods, and grilled, barbecued and fried foods; avoid fish, shrimp and crab that easily cause allergies, and sweet potatoes and beans that easily cause flatulence; eat more plant-based foods, supplement animal-based foods in moderation, and keep the meat-to-vegetable ratio at about 2:8.
Case 1: Mr. Wang, 69, from Yichang, Hubei Province. On September 29, 2020, a relative of his had been treated by me for ovarian cancer for many years with stable condition, so, introduced by that relative, he sought my help. The patient had previously been hospitalized at Yichang First People’s Hospital (People’s Hospital of China Three Gorges University) (hospitalization No. 0000499538), and was diagnosed with: 1. Malignant tumor of the left lung; 2. Cerebral atrophy; 3. Gallstones; 4. Kidney stones. After diagnosis, the family decided not to tell the patient the truth for the time being. The local doctor talked with the family and said the prognosis was poor. The family therefore decided to have me maintain the patient’s condition with TCM. This patient had no obvious clinical symptoms; the malignant tumor in the left lung was found during a physical examination, so he himself had never realized he had lung cancer.
At first I treated this patient with a compound for a period of time, but the effect was poor. On March 18, 2021, the patient was re-examined at Yichang First People’s Hospital (examination No. CT210318040, outpatient No. 000745024). The results showed a mass in the upper lobe of the left lung and enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes, with progression compared with the CT of September 10, 2020, and enlargement of the lung lesion.
The family did not know what to do for a moment, stopped the Chinese medicine for more than two months, and during that period could not make up their minds whether to undergo Western treatment; Western doctors also told them that, because of the unfavorable location of the tumor, the treatment risk was high and the prognosis poor. On May 26, 2021, the family discussed with me whether a different approach could be tried. I therefore switched to the "same disease, same treatment" approach I use specifically for lung cancer, and had the patient take the medicine for a period before re-examination. On June 28, 2021, when the patient was re-examined at a local medical institution, the lung lesion had disappeared. The family was utterly astonished and wondered whether there had been a misdiagnosis earlier.
Case 2: Ms. Li, a pulmonary-nodule patient from Xinjiang, 55 years old, a teacher by profession. On April 7, 2021, she underwent CT at Kuitun Hospital, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang (examination No. C210407081, ID No. 05023541). The result showed a nodular shadow about 0.8 cm in diameter subpleurally in the upper lobe of the right lung; the doctor suggested regular re-examination. The patient had a dry cough that had lasted for a long time. Her spouse had intestinal cancer and underwent many Western treatments, a relatively painful process, so this patient wanted to try TCM first and consider surgery only if it failed. On May 7, 2021, the patient sought my help. I gave her the exact same treatment method used in the later stage of Case 1.
After taking the medicine, the patient developed the side effect of nosebleeds. Somewhat worried, I instructed her to reduce the dosage to one-third to one-half of the original dose; nosebleeds still occurred after taking the medicine, so I told her to stop and switch to other methods. Later the patient realized that the aspirin she was taking might also cause this side effect, so she did not want to switch the TCM treatment. She therefore adjusted her entire medication regimen, and the nosebleed side effect no longer appeared. The patient persisted in taking the medicine for about two months.
On July 15, 2021, the patient was re-examined at the Ninth People’s Hospital affiliated to the Medical School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (outpatient No. 41273425, radiology examination No. 3935912). The diagnostic result showed that the right lung nodule had shrunk to 4×3 mm. The patient’s dry cough also markedly improved after taking the medicine, and by now she basically no longer has a dry cough.
Case 3: Mr. Cui, male, 71 years old, from Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia. On July 21, 2021, he was discharged from Ulanqab Central Hospital (hospitalization No. 00244743). Discharge diagnoses: space-occupying lesion of the upper lobe of the left lung (highly likely malignant; the largest lesion was already more than 5 cm), enlarged mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes, hypertension, coronary atherosclerotic heart disease, thyroid nodules, bullae, emphysema, cerebral infarction, carotid arteriosclerosis, subclavian arteriosclerosis, aortic arteriosclerosis, prostatic hyperplasia with calcification, and left renal cyst.
Because a relative of his was treated by me for thymoma with fair results, the day after discharge—that is, on July 22, 2021—the patient’s family sought my help, saying that because the patient had too many underlying diseases and was too old, they were unwilling to undergo invasive Western treatment.
I treated Case 3 according to the same approach as Cases 1 and 2, with essentially the same main medicines; only because the family of Case 3 was comparatively poor, I reduced the dosage of some root-securing herbs. After more than a year of treatment, on re-examination the lesion showed no change, and his current survival status is fair.
From the above cases it can be seen that, although all were space-occupying lesions of the lung, treating them with the same TCM formula achieved comparatively satisfactory results. None of these three patients underwent in-person diagnosis or pulse-taking by me; I diagnosed their diseases mainly by relying on Western examination reports and online consultation. This shows that the "same disease, same treatment" method for lung cancer that I have studied has a certain clinical practical value and reproducible efficacy. Although the "same disease, same treatment" approach differs from the TCM traditional pattern-differentiation approach that emphasizes individualized medicine, the core of medicine lies in efficacy; as long as there is real efficacy and reliable data, one need not be rigidly bound to whether the diagnostic and treatment process conforms to traditional TCM methods.