The Mechanism of TCM Inhalation (Xunxi) Therapy in Fighting Cancer

TCM has a rather distinctive method called fumigation-inhalation (xunxi) therapy: the patient inhales vaporized medicinal particles through the nose. The particles enter the body via the respiratory tract, pass through the alveolar capillaries into the bloodstream, and are then carried by the blood to every cell in the body, achieving a whole-body therapeutic effect.

A folk TCM doctor named Song Shiqi once practiced this therapy skillfully, and he wrote a book called Song's Fumigation-Inhalation Therapy introducing it. Unfortunately the book is now out of print; I have searched everywhere without finding it, and have long regretted this. I hope any reader who owns a copy will photocopy one for my research; I would be most grateful.

Song's fumigation-inhalation therapy was once reported in the Guangming Daily, and the report was reprinted by the journal Fujian Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Issue 5, 1988). But the report was extremely brief, so it is hard to learn the details of Song's therapy from it.

I have twice been fortunate enough to witness the effects of fumigation-inhalation therapy myself, and I also tried it before 2012, so the impression is deep.

Many years ago, a family member of a late-stage lung-cancer patient came to me, telling me that since the patient's diagnosis they had been heating arsenic trioxide (pi-shuang) and inhaling the fumes through the nose. Though it did not cure the lung cancer, it markedly shrank the tumor and stably controlled the disease for five years.

In 2020, a retired Doctor Shang from a mining hospital in Pingdingshan came to me and shared his earlier experience of treating cancer patients with "anti-cancer cigarettes." The method he used was precisely fumigation-inhalation therapy. Some of the cancer patients he treated achieved cure. He had originally recorded this experience for his descendants, but later shared it with me selflessly. I am publishing Dr. Shang's notes today to benefit more patients.

The ingredients of Dr. Shang's anti-cancer cigarette were: hongpi (red arsenic) 2 fen (0.6 g), qingfen (calomel) 2 fen, hongfen (red powder, i.e. Hong Shengdan, Red Elixir) 2 fen, shexiang (musk) 2 fen, and incense ash (from temple incense) 3 fen. The preparation method is shown in the image of Dr. Shang's handwritten prescription, though some characters I cannot read clearly. The drugs Dr. Shang used were also poisons like arsenic and calomel. These arsenic and mercury preparations are now controlled drugs under State Council regulations and may only be available at the few specialized hospitals running arsenic-therapy clinical trials; ordinary TCM pharmacies and herbal markets do not carry them.

Song Shiqi's exact medications are unknown, but from their nature they must have included highly toxic substances such as arsenic. That is why Song required patients to drink large amounts of cooled boiled water (over 2.5 kg per day) to dilute the toxic drugs and reduce damage to tissues and organs. Alongside inhalation, Song also prescribed oral medicines. The lung-cancer patient I mentioned who tried inhalation on his own, while inhaling arsenic, also took a decoction of badou cream (Croton cream) and dazao (jujube) to speed up detoxification. Dr. Shang developed his anti-cancer cigarette after learning about Song's fumigation-inhalation therapy.

To understand the mechanism of inhalation therapy, we must first understand the respiratory and circulatory systems. Air inhaled through the nose passes through the pharynx, trachea, and bronchi to the alveoli. The alveoli are surrounded by dense capillaries whose walls are very thin—a single layer of cells—easily crossed. The oxygen and other particles in inhaled air cross the capillary walls at the alveoli and enter the pulmonary circulation, then travel via the pulmonary veins into the left atrium, flow into the left ventricle, enter the aorta, and join the systemic circulation, flowing through the arteries to the capillaries throughout the body. The oxygen, nutrients, and various toxins in the blood reach the cells via the capillaries, nourishing their growth, division, and differentiation. Meanwhile, the body's wastes flow back from the capillaries into the veins and then to the atria, in an endless cycle.

The medicinal particles inhaled by fumigation-inhalation therapy follow this same route to the body's tissues, inducing apoptosis of cancer cells to treat cancer. On day 1 of inhalation, after 3–5 minutes of inhaling the medicine, the patient drinks cooled boiled water, at least 2.5 kg a day. On days 2–5, the patient drinks plenty of cooled water but does not inhale. For some diseases, from day 6 the patient decocts and drinks one herbal formula per day for 10 consecutive days (some diseases require no oral medicine, only inhalation); 15 days make one course. Such treatment may continue for several courses.

Song mainly used inhalation therapy for tumors, blood diseases, and stroke sequelae. Song would not have attracted media reports without real effect, but the therapy was later not promoted, presumably for reasons. Reportedly, most patients felt no obvious discomfort; a minority, on the first night or second day after the first dose, had varying degrees of cough, low fever, nausea, increased flatus, fatigue, and general malaise—flu-like symptoms that resolved with more cooled water. After three or four days, spirit and appetite improved markedly and gradually returned to normal.

Inhalation therapy has several contraindications: no smoking, including secondhand smoke; no tea, including all tea products; no spicy, greasy, soy, or high-sugar foods (fruit is allowed); strict avoidance of heat—no hot drinks, hot food, hot baths, electric blankets, or living in overheated rooms; no simultaneous moxibustion or hot compresses; bath water should be as cool as possible. Female patients, except those with endometriosis or dysmenorrhea, should not undergo inhalation during the five days before menstruation. For safety, no other Chinese or Western medicines should be used during inhalation, and painkillers and anticoagulants are specifically forbidden.

During treatment, patients should drink large amounts of cooled boiled water as appropriate: tumor patients must drink at least 5 liters a day, and others should drink as much as possible. They should also keep their emotions stable and avoid anything that causes emotional upheaval. Diet should be mainly liquids, fresh vegetables, and (de-fatted) chicken soup; do not overeat. The first meal after inhalation should be entirely liquid (milk or rice water), the second semi-liquid, and only the third a normal meal. Patients may do gentle exercise such as qigong or tai chi, but not strenuous activity.

According to Song's statistics, the therapy's effects fall into four grades: miraculous, marked, effective, and ineffective, varying with individual response to the drugs and with disease course. The miraculous and ineffective outcomes are both rare; as long as the above requirements are strictly followed, most patients obtain some effect. Results are better still when other oral medicines are added under a professional physician's guidance.

Fumigation-inhalation therapy is a unique pharmacologic idea, but because the arsenic it used is so toxic, it is no longer possible to use it today. I have long hoped to reform Song's method—using his approach but not his drugs—to treat chronic diseases like cancer and asthma. With this method drug absorption is better than with oral medicine, and it suits patients (especially children) who cannot or will not take oral drugs. It just needs more exploration.