Some Massive Tumors, Even Including Liver Metastases, Can Be Reversed with Chinese Medicine

Originally written June 4, 2013.

For more than a year after my late mother passed away, I kept reflecting on the reasons her treatment failed. At the same time I was groping for experience in dealing with liver metastases and massive solid tumors. Gradually I have worked out some experience in treating cancerous tumors; tested clinically, it has been effective. Though it is still slightly early to draw conclusions, because the patients are still under further treatment, I still wish to use this article to explore with my peers.

Once metastatic tumors appear in the liver, a patient's disease often begins to progress rapidly. Liver metastases had previously been my clinical nightmare; I had never dared to tackle them, because when my mother was alive, the metastatic tumors in her abdomen and kidneys were brought under control, but the liver metastases raged on wildly until they proved unredeemable—a regret that has stayed with me to this day.

After my mother passed away, I feared TCM clinical practice for a long time; for about half a year I almost vanished from sight, unwilling to touch any medical work. But after the pain and reflection, I still could not bear to concede defeat to tumors, and I tirelessly explored TCM methods for dealing with metastatic liver lesions and massive tumors in the body. To this day, I have gradually gained some insights.

Xihuang Wan (Vitality-Restoring Pill) is a very important Chinese patent medicine in my clinical work against solid tumors, including liver metastases. To date, I have personally treated or directly encountered six patients who achieved short- or long-term results with Xihuang Wan. In one case, a patient treated himself and obtained a good result with Xihuang Wan. Unfortunately, this patient, eager for quick success, after the tumor had shrunk using Yanghe Tang and Xihuang Wan, was dissatisfied with the pace of treatment and sought help from an old TCM doctor. That old doctor gave heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs, whereupon the condition took a sharp turn for the worse, undoing all previous effort. Retreating to the previous treatment approach no longer worked.

The remaining five cases were all patients in my own clinical practice who achieved actual results; their tumors all shrank to varying degrees. But two of the five rebounded. Of these five patients, two have basically stopped receiving TCM treatment from me.

When Xihuang Wan is used to treat tumors, the supporting decoction is crucial. If the wrong decoction is chosen, even with Xihuang Wan, the effect is poor or absent. The most striking example is a massive-tumor patient I recently treated: when the decoction and Xihuang Wan were used together, the tumor softened and shrank after about half a month of medication, and the speed and magnitude of the shrinkage were astonishing. But afterward I slightly adjusted the patient's prescription; when the new prescription was combined with Xihuang Wan, there was no effect, and I had to return to the original formula. This shows that the decoction prescription is also crucial.

When I use Xihuang Wan, my approach remains the large-dose administration I wrote about before: a single dose of 6 to 12g. Of course, not every patient achieves a result; among the patients I treated myself, two had no effect at all from Xihuang Wan, their disease progressed rapidly, and they should by now have passed away.

When using Xihuang Wan, one must combine four strategies: activating blood and resolving stasis, dissipating phlegm and dispersing nodules, fortifying the spleen, and precipitating downward (purgation)—fully bringing into play the "dispersing method" (xiaofa), a major cancer-treatment strategy.

The intensity of activating blood and resolving stasis should be strong. Clinically effective blood-activating and stasis-resolving herbs such as Sanleng (Sparganii Rhizoma), Ezhu (Curcumae Rhizoma), Danshen (Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix), Ruxiang (Olibanum), Moyao (Myrrha), Wangbuliuxing (Vaccariae Semen), Liujinu (Artemisiae anomalae Herba), Taoren (Persicae Semen), Honghua (Carthami Flos), and Tubiechong (Eupolyphaga/Steleophaga) may be used as appropriate. Purgation is often combined with Xia Yu Xue Tang (Lowering Stasis Decoction). For fortifying the spleen, choose spleen-tonifying herbs such as Renshen/Baizhu/Fuling.

When combining purgation and stasis-resolving, do not forget to fortify the spleen, because this combination has a strong qi-breaking action and greatly damages the patient's spleen yang. If spleen-fortifying herbs are omitted, after the patient is fiercely attacked by purgative and stasis-resolving herbs, there will be spleen-qi deficiency, collapse of the great qi, abdominal fullness and distension, listlessness, somnolence, and easy fatigue. Previously I failed to account for this in my prescribing, causing some patients to lose appetite, develop abdominal distension, and lose weight after taking the medicine—seriously affecting the overall result.

For the yang-type patients among them—generally patients who are robust, with excess heat bound in the viscera, showing vexing thirst, constipation, and scanty dark urine; prone to "shanghuo" from hot foods like chili peppers; with an old yellow tongue coating or even prickles on the tongue—when dissipating phlegm and nodules, I commonly use Xiao Luo Wan (Scrofula-Dispersing Pill), with Xuanshen (Scrophulariae Radix), Beimu (Fritillariae Bulbus), Sheng Muli (Ostrea Concha), Haizao (Sargassum), Kunbu (Eckloniae Thallus), and Xiakucao (Prunellae Spica), plus heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs such as Banzhilian (Scutellariae Barbatae Herba), Baihuasheshecao (Hedyotidis Herba), Jinyinhua (Lonicerae Flos), and Pugongying (Taraxaci Herba).

For the yin-type patients—generally patients who are weak, aversion to cold, no desire to drink or preferring hot drinks, clear and long urine, with a pale, lusterless white tongue coating—when dissipating phlegm and nodules, I often use modified Mahuang Xixin Fuzi Tang (Ephedra, Asarum, and Aconite Decoction) plus modified Er Chen Tang (Two Aged Herbs Decoction), or modified Yanghe Tang (Yang-Soaking Decoction).

I am convinced this treatment regimen is clinically effective; I have personal clinical experience of it. But the patient's own constitution must be able to withstand the medicinal force. Patients already on the verge of terminal stage, or those who have suffered repeated erroneous treatments with chaotic pattern transformations, or those whose general condition is already severely poor after radiotherapy and chemotherapy, should not be considered for similar treatment. This treatment consumes the patient's strength and may even injure the stomach qi; without a certain constitution, such treatment does the patient more harm than good. Especially when the patient's stomach qi is failing, no treatment with pathogen-attacking action should be undertaken.