The Sichuan Elder Physician Li Changda's Experience in Treating Benign and Malignant Tumors

The Sichuan elder TCM physician Li Changda was born in 1926 and graduated from the Law Department of Sichuan University. He served as a member of the 7th and 8th Central Committees of the Jusan (Sept 3) Society, and as a standing committee member and secretary-general of the 1st and 2nd Sichuan Provincial Committees of the Jusan Society.

Although Mr. Li Changda studied law at university, he came from a TCM family. He began studying TCM under his elders at age 12. During the Cultural Revolution he was labeled a rightist; before being restored and transferred back to Chengdu in 1979, he worked in TCM clinical practice at the Mingshan County TCM Hospital, and in 1978 he was recognized locally as a renowned elder TCM physician. After returning to Chengdu, he co-founded the Chengdu Elder TCM Physicians' Experience Seminar with Li Ke-guang and other elder physicians and lectured to students. From 1987 to 1993 he was hired as a special consulting physician by the Renowned Elder TCM Physician Outpatient Department of the Sichuan Provincial Research Institute of TCM and by the Geriatrics Outpatient Department of Chengdu Second People's Hospital, among others.

Dr. Li specialized in treating various benign and malignant tumors. In 2006 he published

Record of Tumor Treatment Experiences

, which collected 30 cases of benign tumors and 24 cases of malignant tumors he had treated. When he published this book, Dr. Li was already 80; as he himself wrote in the preface, "I am in my eighties, old! What more could I ask? These humble observations are offered for reference." In this

Record of Tumor Treatment Experiences

, Dr. Li unreservedly shared a lifetime of experience treating benign and malignant tumors; this spirit is truly commendable.

Dr. Li wrote little; besides this case record, there is also a book called

Idle Talks in the Apricot Grove

, but both are now out of print. This case record contains very little TCM theory — only about two thousand words in the preface; the rest consists entirely of concrete用药 schemes for patients. Reading this case record therefore requires a certain TCM foundation; only those with basic TCM knowledge can discern the clues in his writings.

In the preface, Dr. Li held that the cause of cancer tumors is mainly the lingering presence of external pathogenic six-excess evils, internal injury by the seven emotions, and dietary and overstrain damage; of these, dietary and overstrain damage was especially emphasized. All illness enters through the mouth; Dr. Li believed that modern people's heavy consumption of unclean and moldy food is an important cause of cancer.

In Dr. Li's time this phenomenon may indeed have existed, but in today's society it seems less common. When Dr. Li practiced, most Chinese people's living conditions were not yet good, so dietary problems of the kind he described did exist. But in recent years, with China's economic development, most Chinese families have better diets; unclean and moldy food is less common, and people eat more of what the ancients called "rich, rich food" (gaoliang houwei). Sadly, even when patients develop cancer from overeating nutrient-rich food, many still do not repent after falling ill and continue to feast in the name of "nourishing themselves."

Although dietary structure has shifted, "dietary and overstrain damage" as an important cause in cancer patients has not fundamentally changed with the times. People today consume more calories than their bodies need and dislike exercise, so most are overweight. Obesity is an important cause of common chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

With improved sanitary conditions, once-fatal infectious diseases have dropped sharply, average life expectancy in modern society has risen markedly, and the human disease spectrum has changed greatly; various obesity-related chronic diseases have become the leading causes of death today.

Although benign and malignant tumors are distinguished in Western medicine, TCM treatment methods are basically the same. Therefore Dr. Li Changda's approach to benign and malignant tumors was similar; the principles of formula design combined strengthening zheng and dispelling pathogen, activating blood and resolving stasis, softening hardness and dispersing nodules, and clearing heat and detoxifying.

A notable feature of Dr. Li's prescribing was his preference for pill formulas. He also used decoctions for tumor patients, but usually for no more than a week or two, then switched to pills. This treatment method causes very little injury to the patient's body; as TCM says, "pills are slow-acting," and chronic disease treatment requires more than a day's effort. Long-term decoction use often reduces patients' appetite, makes food tasteless, and damages righteous qi; switching to pills reduces the side effects of the medicine on the body, treating slowly and building achievement gradually.

This approach requires the patient to cooperate patiently. I often see patients expecting good results in three days or a week; many lose heart before even a month of medication, and such expectations are unrealistic.

When Dr. Li Changda practiced, many cancer patients sought him out, but most came with the desperation of "seriously ill, seeking any doctor"; few took an active attitude and cooperated closely, and the treatment process was disturbed by many other factors — family distrust of the physician, or being swayed by others to abandon TCM treatment. Dr. Li therefore bluntly said that recording even 24 cancer cases in his case records had already been no small feat.

I deeply admire Dr. Li's实事求是 attitude and therefore believe these case records are not fabricated. In reality I have also encountered many TCM practitioners who talk grandly, treating tumors as easily as the common cold. But in reality, few of these people have patients with reliably good outcomes; most patients have a one-off relationship with such physicians — after one visit they do not return — and adherence is very low.

Case records from heavily commercialized TCM institutions are pure fabrication; some have even drawn lawsuits from patients' families for advertising fake cases. Such institutions' published case records are therefore of low credibility and little reference value. Dr. Li treated countless patients in his lifetime, and these 24 selected cases do not exaggerate efficacy; good and poor outcomes are both recorded truthfully, so credibility is high.

It is hard for physician and patient to maintain long-term cooperation, especially with cancer patients, many of whom lack rational attitudes and believe in unrealistic publicity. So if a TCM practitioner has dozens of long-term, closely cooperative patients, he should not seek more but patiently serve those dozens, devoting himself to studying their diseases; this actually yields better clinical results.

The herbs Dr. Li used were mostly common ones. To strengthen zheng and root the constitution he used Renshen, Huangqi, Danggui, Shudihuang, Huangjing, Yuzhu, and others; to fortify the spleen and stimulate appetite he liked Jianqu and Gancao; to soften hardness and disperse nodules he liked Xuanshen, Beimu, Muli, Walengzi, Jiangcan, Kunbu, Haizao, Shancigu, Huangyaozi, Banxia, Maozhaicao, and Xiakucao; to clear heat and detoxify he liked Huanglian, Huangqin, Huangbai, and Shandougen; to activate blood and resolve stasis he mainly used Sanleng, Ezhu, Ruxiang, Moyao, Chishao, and Danshen; these were combined with small amounts of poison-attacking-poison herbs such as Wugong, Quanxie, and Shougong; for some patients with qi stagnation and blood stasis, he also added liver-soothing and qi-moving herbs such as Chaihu, Qingpi, Chenpi, and Xiangfu.

On the whole, this formula approach is not especially remarkable; the difficulty lies in Dr. Li's ability to adhere to the principle of "upholding the orthodox," steadily and effectively securing longer survival and better quality of life for patients.

I recommend his approach to treating benign and malignant tumors and his writings, hoping readers will benefit. Because his books are out of print, authentic copies may be hard to find, though used copies are still sold; interested readers can find them on online shopping platforms like Taobao.

When we study Dr. Li's medical skill, we should also study his sincere, plain way of conducting himself; in his writings I see no mysterious, abstruse theories. The greatest sound is the most subtle sound; the so-called true person is probably someone like Dr. Li — seemingly unremarkable.