Appreciating a Case of Wang Jiyan Treating Esophageal Cancer with Pure Traditional Chinese Medicine

Wang Jiyan once practiced medicine in Shanghai, serving as director of the Hui-Ning Hospital of Shanghai and as executive committee member of the Shanghai National Medical Association and editor-in-chief of the Guoyi Magazine, Guoyi Congshu and Guoyi Zhoukan. The late Dr. Wang used three prescriptions to treat a patient with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, shrinking the tumor. Follow-up more than twenty years after treatment found the patient still alive.

The patient, surnamed Tong, was 43 years old and a teacher when first treated by Dr. Wang on January 5, 1966. Clinical symptoms included difficulty swallowing, frequent belching, a wiry, rapid and forceful pulse, and a thin, slightly yellow tongue coating. Dr. Wang treated the patient by combining syndrome differentiation with disease differentiation. From the TCM perspective, he considered the patient to have liver failing to spread and drain, qi stagnation transforming into fire, and qi stagnation with blood stasis; the stagnant qi, accumulated heat and blood stasis intermingled and over time formed a tangible mass. He therefore chose a method of resolving stagnation and moving stasis, softening hardness and clearing heat, and issued three prescriptions:

Prescription 1: Natural bezoar (Tianran Niuhuang) 3 g, musk (Shexiang) 1.8 g, processed myrrh (Zhi Ruxiang) and processed frankincense (Zhi Moyao) each 6 g, borneol (Mei Bingpian) 0.6 g, persimmon frost (Shishuang) 15 g. Grind all finely into powder; twice daily, 0.9 g each time. (In this formula, natural bezoar may be replaced by artificial bezoar at four times the dose.)

Prescription 2: Garden balsam seed (Jixingzi) 30 g, kelp (Kunbu), borax (Pengsha) and mirabilite (Xuanmingfen) each 15 g, coptis (Huanglian) 12 g, Zijin Ding and sanqi (Tian Sanqi) each 4.5 g, borneol (Bingpian) 0.15 g. Grind all finely into powder; four times daily, 0.6 g each time.

Prescription 3: Selfheal spike (Xiakucao) and raw coix seed (Shengyi Yiren) each 30 g, kelp (Kunbu), sargassum (Haizao), raw hematite (Sheng Zheshi), dandelion (Pugongying) and lithospermum root (Zicaogen) each 15 g, pumice (Haifushi), inula flower (Xuanfuhua), lysimachia (Jinqiancao) and corydalis (Yanhusuo) each 12 g, curcuma (Guang Yujin) 6 g, clematis (Weilingxian) and eupatorium (Shengcao Tou) each 9 g. Decoct in water; one dose daily.

The patient used all three prescriptions together for over a year, and the clinical symptoms disappeared. After continuing intermittent medication for a while, the tumor shrank markedly though it did not completely vanish. The patient was followed for over twenty years and remained alive, achieving the therapeutic goal of survival with tumor.

Dr. Wang's first prescription was an enriched Xihuang Wan. He cleverly added borneol, which reduces swelling and stops pain, and persimmon frost, which relieves the dysphagia of esophageal cancer, treating both root and manifestation. However, the musk and bezoar in this formula are now extremely expensive; natural bezoar has been speculatively priced at hundreds of thousands of yuan each, and musk costs several times its weight in gold, so it is not affordable for ordinary families. Those of limited means can use artificial musk and artificial bezoar instead.

In Dr. Wang's second prescription, the heavily dosed Jixingzi expels toxin, anticancers, resolves stasis and reduces swelling; Kunbu softens hardness, dissipates nodules and anticancers; Huanglian clears heat and resolves toxin; Xuanmingfen resolves phlegm; Pengsha anticancers, stops pain and reduces inflammation; Zijin Ding is a patent medicine that reduces swelling and stops pain; Sanqi resolves stasis and reduces swelling; Bingpian clears heat and stops pain. This self-composed prescription has anticancer, anti-inflammatory, swelling-reducing and analgesic effects, greatly benefiting the patient's clinical symptoms and internal environment. However, both Pengsha and Jixingzi are toxic, so safety must be observed.

In the third prescription, Xiakucao clears heat and reduces swelling; Yiren fortifies the spleen, leaches out dampness and anticancers; Kunbu, Haizao and Haifushi soften hardness and dissipate nodules; raw Zheshi and Xuanfuhua downbear counterflow and stop vomiting, a combination originating in Zhang Zhongjing's Xuanfu Daizhe Tang, commonly used for symptomatic treatment of esophageal and gastric cancer; Zicaogen cools blood and reduces swelling and also prevents bleeding; Yanhusuo, Weilingxian and Guang Yujin all resolve stasis and stop pain; Jinqiancao clears heat, resolves toxin, activates blood and resolves stasis; Pugongying clears heat, resolves toxin, anticancers and reduces swelling; Shengcao Tou both reduces swelling and wakes the spleen to stimulate appetite. Combined, these herbs follow the principle of treatment based on syndrome differentiation while also attending to disease differentiation.

The three prescriptions used together act on the patient's esophageal cancer from multiple angles. The patient persisted long-term; though the cancer was not cured, he survived with the tumor for over twenty years, which is itself a miracle.