"Western Diagnosis, TCM Treatment": A Suspected Lung Cancer Case of Patient Ye
Patient Ye, female, 62, from Gutian, Fujian Province. On May 24, 2022, a plain chest CT at the Fuzhou Shi'er Medical Imaging Diagnostic Center (examination no. M6313534) revealed a suspected lung cancer: an irregular, densified shadow in the upper lingular segment of the left upper lobe, about 20 x 19 mm, lobulated with surrounding spiculation, adjacent oblique fissure retracted, and corresponding bronchus truncated. Multiple nodular high-density shadows were seen in both upper lobes, the largest about 5 mm in diameter with clear borders. Both hila were not enlarged. The mediastinum was not shifted; no mass or enlarged lymph nodes were seen within it. No obvious pleural thickening or pleural effusion. Patchy calcification was seen in the right hepatic lobe. Diagnosis: lung cancer considered highly likely.
On June 12, 2022, through a friend's referral, the patient's daughter sought my help. The patient had long lived in the countryside; more than ten years earlier a foreign body had entered her left eye and injured the cornea. Recently, before a corneal transplant at Fuzhou Eye Hospital (admission no. 153259), a suspicious lung lesion was incidentally found on preoperative examination. She was 158 cm tall and weighed 50 kg. Eighteen years earlier she had undergone total hysterectomy for uterine fibroids. In 2020 she felt breast pain, and ultrasound confirmed breast nodules. She had no underlying diseases such as hypertension or hyperglycemia and no history of infectious disease. There was a family history of lung cancer: her elder brother had died two years after lung cancer surgery.
Because her brother had survived only a short time after lung cancer surgery, the family did not want another operation, nor did they want invasive tests such as needle biopsy. On the recommendation of friends, they came to me for purely TCM treatment. The patient's lung mass was located in the left upper lobe, larger than 1 cm, irregular in shape, with surrounding spiculation—features all pointing to malignancy. Even without biopsy, lung cancer could basically be confirmed, and I treated her accordingly.
In recent years I have studied lung cancer extensively. My approach has not followed the traditional TCM principle of bianzheng lunzhi (syndrome differentiation and treatment); instead I have focused on the anticancer effects of Chinese herbs, selecting effective ones such as Dilong (Pheretima), Huachansu (toad venom), Yanshanqiao (Spathirophilum), Baiji (Bletilla), and Jinqiaomai (Fagopyrum) to form compound formulas, which I have continuously refined in practice. So I did not perform the four examinations and differentiate yin-yang, cold-heat, or deficiency-excess in the traditional way; instead I prescribed directly according to the Western diagnostic report.
This "Western diagnosis, TCM treatment" model is more scientific and highly reproducible. I previously wrote an article, "'Same Disease, Same Treatment': Three Cases of Lung Cancer and Pulmonary Nodules", describing this approach. Over the past five years, the primary and secondary lung cancer patients I have successfully treated have all used the same strategy and the same base formula (continually refined, but with little change to the core).
Of course, although results are reproducible and many cases have succeeded, this regimen does not work for every lung cancer patient; some see no effect. So I asked the patient to take the medicine for 2-3 months and then recheck. If the recheck showed benefit, we would continue; if not, we would look for other solutions.
On October 4, 2022, a multi-slice spiral CT at Fujian Gutian East District Hospital (imaging no. CT20225202) showed that the previously larger nodule (20 x 19 mm) had shrunk to 1.5 x 1.6 cm (15 x 16 mm). The treatment effect was clear, confirming the feasibility of the regimen. Both the family and I gained confidence and decided to continue the original regimen for another half year before rechecking.
That this regimen has repeatedly shown efficacy across different lung cancer patients proves that the scientific study of traditional Chinese medicine for anticancer treatment is viable. Although the response rate still needs improvement, it has already shown me a ray of hope. Cancer is a special disease; the key to treating it is finding effective anticancer drugs. We may fully draw on the findings of modern pharmacology without necessarily clinging to traditional TCM reasoning.