Xuanfuhua (Inula Flower): A Common Anticancer TCM Herb in Oncology

Xuanfuhua (Inula Flower) is an important Chinese medicinal for treating hiccups, regurgitation, dysphagia (esophageal obstruction), and cough. In Zhang Zhongjing's Jingui Yaolue (Essentials from the Golden Cabinet), Xuanfuhua Daizheshi Tang (Inula and Haematitum Decoction) is a famous formula for hiccups, regurgitation, and dysphagia; its chief herb is the Chinese medicinal Xuanfuhua, whose main action is to descend counterflow qi and stop hiccups. The Xuanfuhua used clinically is the capitulum of the Asteraceae plant Inula japonica; because it has fine hairs, it is usually wrapped in cloth when decocting to keep the hairs from entering the soup and irritating the throat.

Xuanfuhua is one of the most common herbs in oncology. Especially in patients who have undergone chemotherapy or interventional therapy, gastrointestinal symptoms such as regurgitation often appear. Adding Xuanfuhua to the prescriptions of such patients can well suppress regurgitation and similar symptoms, improve appetite, and enhance the patient's quality of life.

Xuanfuhua also has a mild diuretic action, so it may be used in treating cancer patients' common complication, ascites; it is especially well suited when the patient simultaneously has liver qi invading transversely and a sensation of belching and fullness. In the folk tradition of Yunnan Province, Xuanfuhua has been used to treat cancer. According to the Yunnan Anticancer Chinese Herbal Materia Medica, Xuanfuhua can be used to treat esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, mediastinal tumors, colon cancer, gingival cancer, breast cancer, brain tumors, and many other cancers. Modern pharmacological research has shown that the sesquiterpene lactones and flavonoids contained in the flowers and leaves of Xuanfuhua are its anticancer active constituents.

Xuanfuhua also has anti-hepatitis B virus activity. The Pharmacology Teaching and Research Office of the PLA Beijing Medical Junior College once conducted experiments on the extracts of five Chinese herbs—watercress (Oenanthe), Gentiana longdancao, Xuanfuhua, rhubarb (Dahuang), and Astragalus (Huangqi)—against duck hepatitis B virus reverse transcriptase (DHBV-RT) and DNA polymerase (DHBV-DNAP). The results showed that watercress had the best anti-hepatitis B effect, with Xuanfuhua second.

Xuanfuhua also has a blood-pressure-lowering effect. Patients with hypertension and patients with intractable vomiting after stroke can obtain clear improvement after taking TCM decoctions containing Xuanfuhua.

Xuanfuhua is a commonly used herb in Chinese medicine for spreading and regulating qi movement, and has been valued by physicians from ancient times to the present. Chinese medicine holds that Xuanfuhua is acrid-sweet in flavor, warm in qi, and non-toxic. Traditional Chinese medicine considers its main actions to be: treating head wind, improving vision, promoting water drainage and bowel movement, dispelling chest fullness, belching, and glomus hardness, resolving phlegm-rheum accumulating in the chest, calming fright and aberrant manifestations, and stopping chills and fever. This herb has the image of turning the cosmos upside down; whatever qi is counterflowing, it can restore to peace—hence the name Xuanfuhua (literally "revolving flower"). But ancient Chinese medicine held that Xuanfuhua should not be used long-term, because it can cause the original qi of weak patients to collapse downward; however, when Xuanfuhua is combined with qi-tonifying herbs such as ginseng (Renshen) and raw Astragalus (Sheng Huangqi), this concern is dispelled.

Xuanfuhua is often paired with Haematitum (Daizheshi) as a herb pair, but modern pharmacological research shows that long-term use of Haematitum has carcinogenicity, mainly related to impurities it contains. Xuanfuhua, by contrast, is quite safe for long-term use, with no mutagenic effect whatsoever.

Xuanfuhua has a very pronounced effect on belching, hiccupping, and similar symptoms caused by reflux esophagitis, gastritis, and mediastinal disease; the effect is even more pronounced when combined with Haematitum (Daizheshi), persimmon calyx (Shidi), and clove (Dingxiang). Hence Xuanfuhua is used most frequently in digestive tract diseases.