Two Case Reports of Lymphoma Patients Effectively Treated with Chinese Medicine

Case One:

A certain He, female, born 1981, a native of Nanning, Guangxi, long resident in Nanning. First visit December 7, 2017. An office worker who does not often stay up late. She denies a history of hepatitis B. The pulse was deep, fine, and slightly rapid, with a thick, greasy tongue coating. Lymphoma was discovered through enlarged cervical lymph nodes. The patient rejected Western treatment and had received none; she requested pure Chinese-medicine treatment.

Considering that the patient needed to work and that brewing decoctions would be inconvenient, I prescribed some Chinese patent medicines.

Chinese patent medicines:

1. Neixiao Luoli Wan (Internal-scrofula-dissolving Pills, Tongrentang or Foci Pharmaceutical) (as directed in the package insert)
2. Shenqi Shiyiwei Keli (Ginseng-Astragalus Eleven-Ingredient Granules, Shangao Pharmaceutical) (as directed in the package insert)
3. Xihuang Wan (Yellow Pill, Beijing Tongrentang) once daily at bedtime, 3–6–9–12–12 g
4. Xiaojin Wan (Little Gold Pills, Beijing Tongrentang) once daily on an empty stomach in the morning, 1.5–3–4.5–6–6 g
5. Fufang Banmao Jiaonang (Compound Cantharis Capsules, Guizhou Yibai Pharmaceutical) twice daily, 3 capsules each time
6. Neixiao Sanjie Jiaonang (self-made Internal-dissipating, Node-resolving Capsules) twice daily, 2 capsules each time
7. Pingxiao Pian (Peaceful-dissolving Tablets, Xi'an Zhengda) three times daily, 4–8 tablets each time
8. Erzhi Wan (Two-seasons Pill) twice daily, 9 g each time

Dietary restrictions: citrus fruits, seafood, pickled vegetables, grilled foods, shrimp, crab, common carp.

Follow-up visit March 27, 2018.

After the first visit, because of a cold and her period, she did not take the medicine for about a month. The lymph nodes had grown in number and size. After she resumed the medicine, the lymph nodes stabilized without further change. Recently her sleep quality has been good; her menstrual period shortened (previously eight or nine days, gradually about seven days after taking the medicine), and the color lightened. At times there is clear vaginal discharge, without odor. There is some diarrhea, but after diarrhea her energy is unaffected.

The pulse was fine, slippery, and rapid, with a thin, white tongue coating. I decided to use a decoction for a while, to strengthen the force of dissolving the tumor.

Decoction formula:

Pugongying (Dandelion) 30 g, Rendongteng (Honeysuckle stem) 30 g, Jinyinhua (Honeysuckle flower) 15 g, Lianqiao (Forsythia) 15 g, Diding (Groundsel) 15 g, Yejuhua (Wild chrysanthemum) 10 g, Tiankuizi (Muskroot-like Semiaquilegia) 15 g, Chaihu (Bupleurum) 10 g, Huangqin (Scutellaria) 10 g, Wuweizi (Schisandra) 10 g, Huoxiang (Agastache) 10 g, Peilan (Eupatorium) 10 g, Sheng Huangqi (raw Astragalus) 30 g, Nuzhenzi (Ligustrum) 15 g, Mohanlian (Eclipta) 15 g, Haizao (Sargassum) 30 g, Kunbu (Ecklonia) 30 g, Huangyaozi (Dioscorea bulbifera) 15 g, Shancigu (Cremastra) 15 g, Xuanshen (Scrophularia) 12 g, Zhebeimu (Fritillaria thunbergii) 12 g, Sheng Muli (raw oyster shell, decoct first) 30 g, Zhi Biejia (honey-processed turtle shell, decoct first) 24 g, Guiban (tortoise plastron, decoct first) 15 g, Xiakucao (Prunella) 15 g, Chonglou (Paris) 15 g, Sanleng (Sparganium) 10 g, Ezhu (Curcuma) 10 g, Chan Yi (cicada slough) 6 g, Chao Jiangcan (stir-fried Bombyx batryticatus) 10 g, Pian Jianghuang (curcuma slice) 6 g, Baihua Shesh Cao (Oldenlandia) 30 g, Banzhilian (Scutellaria barbata) 30 g, Tusizi (Cuscuta) 15 g, Shayuanzi (Astragalus complanatus seed) 15 g, Dangshen (Codonopsis) 30 g, Chao Baizhu (stir-fried Atractylodes) 30 g, Fulin (Poria) 30 g, Yiyiren (Coix) 60 g, Cangzhu (Atractylodes lancea) 10 g, Huangbai (Phellodendron) 10 g, Jiao Sanxian (charred three immortals) 15 g each.

Each dose taken over 1–2 days, 2–3 times a day.

Chinese patent medicines:

1. Xihuang Wan
2. Xiaojin Wan
3. Neixiao Sanjie Wan
4. Fufang Banmao Jiaonang
5. Duoying Wan

After taking the above medicines, the patient's tumor shrank. She had planned to come to Beijing for a follow-up in the summer, but did not come because she went back to her hometown for vacation. Since the treatment was effective and the formula should not be changed, I told her to continue the original regimen for the time being and come back to Beijing for follow-up when the weather cooled in autumn.

Case Two

A certain Jiang

Male, born 1944, a research scientist. Usual place of residence: Lanzhou, Gansu Province.

First visit March 9, 2018, for lymphoma. Before 1988, due to work, he had been exposed to benzene for about two months. Thereafter he worked mostly in an office. In August 2017, because of fatigue, low fever, and poor appetite, he was diagnosed with lymphoma in November. The patient's younger brother had once had gastric cancer.

At age eighteen or nineteen, a routine exam found a calcified lesion in the lungs, but the patient himself had felt no symptoms. Every time he has a fever, his gums become inflamed. There are tumors on the body surface and above the clavicle; no palpable enlarged tumors in the groin. Before falling ill he had suffered no particular emotional shock.

The discharge diagnosis from Peking University Cancer Hospital (medical record no. 841472) showed: non-Hodgkin lymphoma stage III B, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, involving bilateral submandibular, cervical, left supraclavicular, right axillary, mediastinal, pelvic, and retroperitoneal lymph nodes; liver cyst; old pulmonary tuberculosis. There are gastric polyps; a gastric polyp resection was done two years earlier.

He had already completed six cycles of chemotherapy at Beijing Cancer Hospital. The first two evaluations showed effectiveness; after the 3rd–4th chemotherapy cycles, evaluation showed no obvious effect. Body temperature is slightly higher at night.

The left pulse was deep, fine, slippery, and rapid; the right pulse fine, slippery, and rapid. the tip of the tongue was slightly red, and the tongue appearance basically normal.

When lymphoma was first discovered he sweated a lot; recently not so much. No marked aversion to cold or heat.

Lately, after chemotherapy, he tires easily when walking. Bowel movements are difficult and not quite smooth, but formed and yellow. Urine is mostly yellowish, with basically normal volume each time and no frequency. If sleep is normal at night, he gets up once or twice to urinate. His sleep quality has not been good since childhood, with insomnia and many dreams; since falling ill, sleep quality has declined further. After chemotherapy he finds it hard to fall asleep all night. Abdominal distension, poor appetite.

After chemotherapy the mouth feels sticky and the sense of taste is poor. No dry mouth, bitter mouth, or thirst. After chemotherapy, eating produces much clear nasal discharge; he also has rhinitis symptoms ordinarily. After chemotherapy his hair thinned slightly, but hair loss is not obvious.

Decoction formula:

Sheng Huangqi (raw Astragalus) 30 g, Chao Baizhu (stir-fried Atractylodes) 15 g, Dangshen (Codonopsis) 15 g, Fulin (Poria) 15 g, Chenpi (tangerine peel) 10 g, Shudi (rehmannia, prepared) 10 g, Danggui (Angelica) 10 g, Chuanxiong (Ligusticum) 10 g, Baishao (white peony) 10 g, Tubaimu (Bolbostemma) 15 g, Xiangfu (Cyperus) 10 g, Jiegeng (Platycodon) 6 g, Sheng Gancao (raw licorice) 6 g, Chao Maiya (stir-fried barley sprout) 30 g, Chao Guya (stir-fried millet sprout) 30 g, Jiao Shanzha (charred hawthorn) 15 g, Jiao Shenqu (charred medicated leaven) 15 g, Lianqiao (Forsythia) 15 g, Jinyinhua (Honeysuckle) 30 g, Chaihu (Bupleurum) 10 g, Huangqin (Scutellaria) 10 g, Wuweizi (Schisandra) 15 g, Qinghao (Artemisia annua, add later) 10 g, Zhi Biejia (honey-processed turtle shell, decoct first) 15 g, Sheng Muli (raw oyster shell, decoct first) 30 g, Xuanshen (Scrophularia) 15 g, Mohanlian (Eclipta) 20 g, Nuzhenzi (Ligustrum) 20 g, Shayuanzi (Astragalus complanatus seed) 10 g, Tusizi (Cuscuta) 10 g, Yuanzhi (Polygala) 10 g, Suanzaoren (sour jujube seed) 15 g, Baiziren (biota seed) 15 g.

Chinese patent medicines:

1. Xihuang Wan (Beijing Tongrentang) once daily at bedtime, 3–6–9–12–12 g, increasing by 3 g daily up to a maximum of 12 g
2. Neixiao Sanjie Wan (self-made) twice daily, 8–12 pills each time
3. Fufang Banmao Jiaonang (Guizhou Yibai Pharmaceutical) twice daily, 2–3 capsules each time
4. Neixiao Luoli Wan (Lanzhou Foci Pharmaceutical)

After taking the medicine, the patient's stamina improved markedly. Because Lanzhou is far away and follow-up was inconvenient, he did not return. On July 9, 2018, his follow-up PET/CT showed the lymphoma had shrunk. Later, finding the decoction hard to take, and about to travel out of town in summer, he consulted me; I told him to have the pharmacy process the decoction formula into pills, taken three times daily, about 10 g of pills each time, while continuing the other Chinese patent medicines.

Up to now, the patient is in good condition and still continues the original regimen.

In ancient times lymphoma was called shirong or luoli. Chinese medicine holds that the disease mechanism of this illness is qi stagnation and blood stasis, healthy deficiency with excess pathogen, and binding of cancer toxin. So in treatment one should support the righteous qi and expel pathogen, soothe and regulate the flow of qi, and combine some Chinese medicines that use toxin to attack toxin; working from both pattern-based treatment and disease-based treatment is necessary to obtain good results.

In the first patient here, He, at the first visit I used Shenqi Shiyiwei Keli and Erzhi Wan to support righteous qi, while all the other medicines were antitumor.

Neixiao Luoli Wan is a classic famous formula for treating enlarged lymph nodes (enlarged lymph nodes were called luoli in ancient Chinese medicine). Xihuang Wan and Xiaojin Wan are broad-spectrum antitumor drugs. Fufang Banmao Jiaonang, Pingxiao Pian, and my self-made Neixiao Sanjie Wan are all Chinese patent medicines that use toxin to attack toxin, and so can have some therapeutic effect.

After the second visit, I prescribed a decoction built mainly around Wuwei Xiaodu Yin (Five-Ingredient Toxin-Disinfecting Drink) and Xiaoluo Tang (Scrofula-Dissolving Decoction), strengthening the treatment. The combined formula both supports righteous qi and expels pathogen, and so was able to shrink the patient's tumor.

Case Two's Mr. Jiang was older and had undergone chemotherapy, so his righteous qi was already depleted; hence treatment should primarily support righteous qi, with expulsion of pathogen as secondary. So I prescribed a decoction built mainly around Xiangbei Yangrong Tang (Cyperus-BellAMoica Nourishing-the-Nature Decoction), combined with node-dissolving, tumor-shrinking, toxin-attacking Chinese patent medicines.

Xiangbei Yangrong Tang is a famous external-medicine formula of Chinese medicine for tumors. When the patient's righteous qi is weak, one should first consider supporting righteous qi, striving to improve the patient's constitution and create the conditions for the patient to live on with the disease. This patient's subsequent chemotherapy was already ineffective, yet one cannot support righteous qi blindly while ignoring the expulsion of pathogen; so several antitumor drugs were also added to the combination.

I had not held out much hope for such patients after chemotherapy, but unexpectedly this line of thinking yielded good results. So sometimes pressing ahead with treatment even when uncertain has its point. After all, for tumor diseases there are few effective treatments; rather than sitting and waiting for death, it is better to die taking medicine.