TCM External Anti-Cancer Therapy: The Suppository Insertion Method
Besides oral medicines, Chinese medicine has always had external medications. With the development of the times, some of the older external methods are now gradually being combined with modern technology; the suppository is one of them. A suppository is a dosage form in which Chinese herbs are made into a plug and inserted into the lesion to deliver the drug directly. This method reaches the lesion directly, works better than oral medication, and is less likely to damage the patient's liver and kidney function.
Suppositories can be used in treating cancers such as nasopharyngeal, cervical, prostate, vaginal, and rectal cancer. However, there are as yet no finished commercial suppository products specifically for treating these cancers. Still, from ancient times to the present, many famous formulas are suitable for making into anti-cancer suppositories for external treatment—for example, the famous external TCM formula "San Pin Yi Tiao Qiang" (Three Grades One-Thread Spear), which requires the patient and family to familiarize themselves with the method of preparing suppositories.
Making suppositories is not difficult. Some manufacturers produce suppository molds, which are inexpensive; entering the keyword "suppository mold" on online shopping platforms, one can buy them. Most suppository molds are of a soft-gel capsule nature and dissolve on their own after insertion into the body. Suppository molds have a wide range of uses: filling one with honey or petrolatum oil can moisten the intestines and relieve constipation; filling one with a doctor's prescription can make an anti-cancer suppository for external treatment.
I have studied these suppository molds myself; the operation is simple and clear, and they are easy to use. I believe many people have experience using hemorrhoid suppositories. Using suppository molds to treat cancer works the same way as using hemorrhoid suppositories: with a disposable medical glove, insert the medicinal plug into the anus or vagina.
When a doctor prescribes medicinal suppositories, the dosage can be somewhat larger than for oral medicine, because suppositories are far safer than oral medication.
For example, "San Pin Yi Tiao Qiang" from the Waike Zhengzong (Orthodox External Medicine) consists of four herbs: alum (mingfan), arsenolite (pishi), realgar (xionghuang), and frankincense (ruxiang). First calcine the alum and arsenic stone to redness, then grind them into a fine powder; add the realgar and frankincense, mix and roll into medicinal sticks, and dry in the shade for external use. It is suitable for hemorrhoids, anal fistula, goiter and nodules, ding boils, back abscess, and brain carbuncle.
San Pin Yi Tiao Qiang is an excellent anti-cancer suppository formula. It has the actions of dispersing swelling, removing necrosis, and drawing out fistulas. In the 1970s and 1980s, some TCM hospitals in China still used San Pin Yi Tiao Qiang to treat cancers such as cervical and rectal cancer, with satisfactory results. It is reported that using San Pin Yi Tiao Qiang to treat early cervical and rectal cancer achieved an effective rate of over 90%, and it also reduced tumor burden in middle- and late-stage cervical and rectal cancer. But now, restricted by regulations on drug control, ordinary people can no longer obtain highly toxic anti-cancer herbs such as arsenolite. Therefore, clinicians must still select relatively safe herbs according to the patient's symptoms—such as indigo naturalis (qingdai), realgar (xionghuang), borneol (bingpian), and musk (shexiang)—and make them into suppositories for external use.
Suppository molds are small and can hold only a limited amount of medicine; even the largest mold holds no more than a few grams, so one should not write large prescriptions as with oral medicine. One may select a few herbs with marked anti-cancer action, grind them into powder, mix with honey, and pour into molds to make suppositories. Alternatively, powders of some herbs may be mixed with the decoction of other herbs, loaded into the mold, and inserted into the patient's lesion.
Cancer is a systemic disease; treating only the local area cannot fully solve the patient's problem, so when using suppositories, one should also combine them with oral medication.
Another point to note: the medicines loaded into suppositories are mostly highly toxic, such as arsenic (pi shuang), cantharis (banmao), and nux vomica (maqianzi). Patients and families must closely watch for reactions when using suppositories; if discomfort occurs, stop the medicine promptly. With small doses, stopping as soon as adverse reactions appear usually allows recovery. But if there are severe adverse reactions and the medicine is used for a long time, accidents can easily occur.