Exploring the Anti-Cancer Strategy and Secret Formulas of Renowned TCM Oncologist Sun Bingyan (Part 1)
The veteran TCM physician Sun Bingyan was among the first generation of doctors after the founding of the People's Republic who used TCM to fight cancer and achieved remarkable results. During his lifetime he was received and looked after by Premier Zhou Enlai, by former Minister of Health Qian Xinzhong, and by Director of the State Administration of TCM Lu Bingkui, and his medical skill was widely recognized by patients. Dr. Sun originally specialized in treating bone tuberculosis, but in clinical practice he encountered so many tumor patients that he later turned to TCM anti-cancer research.
In 1976, the Tianjin Municipal Health Bureau, the Heping District Health Bureau, and Tianjin People's Hospital once formed a joint investigation team. From 200 tumor patients treated by Dr. Sun in Beijing and Tianjin, they selected 163 for follow-up visits. The survey showed that as many as 80 patients had survived over 6 years, and 32 had survived over 10 years.
Considering that most of the patients treated by Dr. Sun Bingyan were late-stage cancer patients already abandoned by hospitals and with widespread metastases, the results he achieved with TCM are astonishing. Of course, one cannot rule out the possibility that the 200 patients he selected were those he had treated best. Even so, to this day, whether in TCM or Western medicine, few physicians achieve such good results for late-stage or even end-stage cancer patients.
Because I have been active in TCM anti-cancer circles all these years, I was fortunate to come across two cancer patients treated by Dr. Sun Bingyan; both have survived more than fifteen years. Through direct contact with the patients I learned of Dr. Sun's outstanding results and became deeply convinced of his medical skill. I then studied the medical writings of Sun Bingyan and his disciples and gained much. Today I write up the medical characteristics I have learned of Dr. Sun, hoping they may be of some help to those who come after.
The most striking feature of Dr. Sun's cancer treatment was attacking poison with poison. He always stressed that the root cause of cancer is cancer-toxin (ai-du), rather than the external and internal causes commonly emphasized in TCM, such as the six excesses and the seven emotions. The anti-cancer drugs Sun Bingyan used were mainly those that attack poison with poison; commonly used ones included pishuang (arsenic trioxide), xionghuang (realgar), badoushuang (croton butter), banmao (blister beetle), suchan (toad), huangyaozi (Dioscorea bulbifera), mercury preparations, tonglü (verdigris), huangdan (lead oxide), jinqian snake, langdu (Euphorbia fischeriana), hongniangzi (Lytta), shancigu (Cremastra appendiculata), and walnut twig. Some of these toxic substances have a very low lethal dose. To master the safe dosage of these toxic drugs, Sun Bingyan did not hesitate to test them on his own body. This spirit of great medical sincerity is exceedingly rare in the medical world.
The purgative attack method (gongxia fa) was Dr. Sun Bingyan's most frequently used treatment. Using the purgative attack method carries considerable risk for both doctor and patient, and Sun Bingyan was outspoken about this. He held that the deficiency of cancer patients is deficiency caused by disease, not disease caused by deficiency, so the treatment of cancer patients should focus on delivering a striking blow to the cancer-toxin.
I have clinically practiced and observed in the TCM anti-cancer field for many years. To be factual, pure supportive (fuzheng) treatment indeed gives poor results, and the effect it achieves is short-lived. Patients and their families often mistake this brief "improvement" for a lasting effect of fuzheng treatment, but in reality it is not so. Although fuzheng treatment can indeed help patients recover strength after radiotherapy and chemotherapy, it ultimately only scratches the itch; before long the patient begins to deteriorate, and no amount of further fuzheng will help.
Sun Bingyan held that cancer treatment should use harsh, toxic drugs to storm the cancer-toxin fiercely. From some of his case records, he often combined several—even more than ten—highly toxic herbs to attack cancer, while also using purgatives such as dahuang (rhubarb) and badoushuang (croton butter) to promote the expulsion of tangible tumors from the body. After taking the medicine, some patients produced a single bowel movement of as much as a washbasin full. If the patient did not fully trust the doctor, this storm-and-purge approach could easily make patients and their families fearful and suspicious, leading them to abandon treatment midway.
Among the patients Sun Bingyan treated with this purgative attack method, quite a few had tumors expelled through feces and vomit. Some rotten-flesh-like or blood-clot-like tissues in the excreta were sent to hospitals for testing, which confirmed they were indeed sloughed-off tumors. I myself also lean toward using the purgative attack method for cancer, and in practice I have sometimes been reproached by patients and their families; some abandon treatment midway. Even when I have communicated in advance with patients and families about what may occur during treatment, I still encounter their doubts and fears in the actual course of treatment.
Some yang-warming (fuyang) TCM physicians consider Sun Bingyan, who loved using fuzi (aconite) and rougui (cinnamon bark) to treat cancer, a representative of the fuyang school. In fact, Sun Bingyan himself stated in his writings that routine pattern-differentiation treatment has only weak effects on cancer and cannot cure it; the core of his cancer treatment was "attacking poison with poison" and the purgative attack method. The Ming physician Zhang Jingyue said a doctor must have "the eye of an eagle and the courage of a lion." Sun Bingyan treated disease with boldness and care, daring to take risks other doctors dared not; his skill in using the method of attacking poison with poison was the fundamental reason for his outstanding results.
The reason Sun Bingyan often used yang-warming drugs may relate to the fact that most of his patients were from northern China. In treating disease, the climatic characteristics of the patient's region are also a factor the physician must consider. When I treat northern patients I mostly use yang-warming drugs, but for southern patients I more often use the approach of clearing heat and resolving toxin. I have also found in practice that some northern patients who go south to convalesce then develop clear discomfort when given yang-warming drugs. This personal experience is offered for colleagues to study and discuss.
Sun Bingyan himself did not reject heat-clearing and toxin-resolving drugs; he also highly praised anti-cancer heat-clearing toxins such as banzhilian (Scutellaria barbata), baihuasheshecao (Hedyotis diffusa), and bianlianhua (Lobelia chinensis), and was not extremist enough to refuse them wholesale.
When using the method of attacking poison with poison, Sun Bingyan paid particular attention to proportion: first, he controlled the dosage of the toxic drugs very well; second, he controlled the duration of the treatment well. The method of attacking poison with poison can be used briefly but not long; if a patient takes such herbs year after year, chronic poisoning is inevitable, and such a regimen plants future troubles. Sun Bingyan would concentrate on attacking poison with poison for a period, then pause treatment for a while or ease the intensity. This is consistent with the approach of the renowned external-medicine physicians through the ages who favored attack methods for tumors. While attacking the tumor, the treatment also damages other tissues of the body; one should follow the ancient precept recorded in the Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon): "When treating disease with strongly toxic drugs, remove six-tenths of it." Once the disease has been treated six or seven-tenths, pause, let the body's original qi recover, and then resume the attack.
Poison-attacking drugs mostly injure the liver, kidneys, and stomach; while attacking the tumor they also damage the patient's body. The physician should instruct the patient to treat for a period, then stop for a period, let the body's original qi recover, and then treat again, repeating the cycle—only this way is it relatively safe. Otherwise it is all too easy for the patient to die from excessive intake of poison.
In clinical practice, some patients and families often fail to understand this; some patients feel fear as soon as they stop the medicine, and wish they could be on tumor-attacking treatment every single day. This is improper, and some patients end up with drug-induced hepatitis, renal failure, or gastric perforation. The physician needs to explain this and enlighten them.
In today's TCM world there is excessive emphasis on fuzheng treatment; in clinical practice most doctors, fearing doctor-patient disputes, dare not risk using pathogen-eliminating treatments such as attacking poison with poison and purgative attack. This has become a prevailing malady, making the results of TCM tumor treatment quite disappointing.
When adopting the poison-attacking treatment, to keep the safe dosage of the toxic drugs controllable, Sun Bingyan generally made some highly toxic herbs into pills or extracts. This method of taking medicine avoids the problem of patients being unable to control a single dose when self-medicating, ensuring safety. Cancer patients also need to take medicine for a long time, and pill, oral-liquid, tablet, and capsule forms are more convenient than decoction and are less damaging to the patient's appetite. This is worth learning from.