White Goose Blood in the Treatment of Gastric and Esophageal Cancer

In 1974, Professor Zhang Mengnong, a renowned veteran TCM physician from Hubei Province, published a case report on using white goose blood (or white duck blood as a substitute if goose blood is unavailable) to treat gastric and esophageal cancer. Since then, other TCM physicians have successively reported that, drawing on Professor Zhang Mengnong's experience, white goose blood shows a certain degree of efficacy against gastric and esophageal cancer.

White goose blood is the blood of the domestic goose (Anser cygnoides domesticus) of the duck family. Its medicinal effects have been recorded in TCM classics through the dynasties. The Bencao Congxin (New Compilation of Materia Medica) explicitly states that white goose blood "cures ye ge (dysphagia) and fan wei (regurgitation)". The Jingyuan Fengyuan (Origin and Development of Medicine) also records: "Goose blood can induce vomiting to expel stasis accumulated in the stomach, open the blood-blocked diaphragm, and relieve vomiting in which food cannot enter. If drunk warm and to satiety, it can bring up the root of the disease. Those poisoned by shegong (a legendary insect toxin) can drink it and also apply it to the body to neutralize the poison, because the goose eats this insect."

Ye ge and fan wei are the typical symptoms of esophageal and gastric cancer. These records show that ancient people had already discovered that white goose blood can treat esophageal and gastric cancer. Of course, Professor Zhang Mengnong did not have patients take white goose blood alone. In the one gastric cancer case and one esophageal cancer case he published, other Chinese herbs were used concurrently; however, Old Master Zhang also used white goose blood as a simple/single-herb remedy together with the other herbs he prescribed.

Goose blood is generally used raw. It is drunk warm in amounts of 100-200 ml each time, twice daily; the goose meat can be stewed and eaten. Goose blood may also be made into a syrup or processed into goose-serum-filled capsules. Raw goose blood does not taste pleasant, so patients accept it more readily when it is made into syrup or serum capsules.

There are also ancient successful cases of using goose blood to treat ye ge. In TCM, ye ge refers to the condition in which food cannot be swallowed or is vomited immediately upon ingestion. In modern medicine this corresponds to esophageal cancer, cardiac carcinoma, cardiospasm, esophageal diverticulum, esophageal neurosis, and esophageal inflammation. Because most patients find raw goose blood unacceptable, case reports on treating ye ge with goose blood are scarce. Whether it can treat benign lesions such as cardiospasm, esophageal diverticulum, esophageal neurosis, and esophageal inflammation remains unknown. Only limited reports suggest that goose blood has some efficacy against gastric and esophageal cancer.