Taoren Honghua Decoction for TCM Treatment of Prostate Cancer
Taoren Honghua Decoction ("Peach Kernel and Safflower Decoction") comes from Supplemental Commentary on Chen Su'an's Gynecology, Volume 1, by Chen Yi (courtesy name Su'an), a palace physician of the Southern Song dynasty. (The formula is also recorded in Su'an's Medical Cases, compiled and published by his descendants.) Its composition includes taoren (Peach kernel), honghua (Safflower), danggui (Angelica sinensis), shengdi (Rehmannia root), xiangfu (Cyperus rhizome), yanhuosuo (Corydalis), chishao (Red Peony root), chuanxiong (Ligusticum), ruxiang (Frankincense), moyao (Myrrh), danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza), and qingpi (Unripe tangerine peel). This formula has the effects of activating blood and resolving stasis, dispelling pain, and dispersing lumps.This formula was actually developed by modifying Taohong Siwu Decoction (Peach Kernel and Safflower Four-Substance Decoction), and has better qi-moving, blood-activating, and pain-relieving effects than Taohong Siwu Decoction.Taoren Honghua Decoction was originally a formula for treating gynecological diseases. Chen Su'an created this formula with the intention of using it to move blood and smooth qi. It was originally indicated for female amenorrhea, presenting as "women with blocked menstruation due to congealed static blood. If untreated over time, it develops into zheng-jia (abdominal masses). There are cases of amenorrhea due to heat binding in the lower jiao, and cases due to cold invading the uterine portal; this condition must involve intermittent pain, or lower abdominal tension and urgency."But later physicians found that the symptom of "lower abdominal tension and urgency" also commonly appeared in male prostate cancer patients. Gradually, this formula came to be used as one of the principal formulas for prostate cancer, and using it to treat prostate cancer has a certain effect in relieving clinical symptoms.This formula can relieve prostate cancer with the pattern of impaired blood flow, presenting as dribbling urination, or alternately patency and obstruction, distending pain in the lower abdomen, accompanied by distending discomfort in the lower back and perineum, difficulty in movement, irritability, and a purplish-dark tongue with stasis spots.When treating prostate cancer, the commonly used dosages of the herbs in this formula are: taoren 10g, honghua 10g, danggui 10g, shengdi 10g, chishao 10g, chuanxiong 10g, xiangfu 10g, danshen 10g, yanhuosuo 10g, qingpi 6g, ruxiang 6g, moyao 6g.This formula can relieve prostate cancer-related symptoms, improve patients' quality of life, and prolong survival. In addition, modern pharmacological research has found that this formula can lower blood lipids, prevent damage to blood vessels caused by hyperlipidemia, and has only a mild rebound effect after discontinuation, with a relatively sustained therapeutic effect. This formula can also treat cardiac insufficiency, palpitations, and other conditions presenting with the pattern of impaired blood flow.