Anti-Cancer Herbs ⁽¹⁷¹⁾

Xiaojin Dan is a formula from Waike Zhengzhi Quansheng Ji (Complete Compendium on the Diagnosis and Treatment of External Diseases). Like Xihuang Wan, it is a secret ancestral formula of Wang Hongxu, a famous Qing-dynasty TCM external-medicine physician, and a famous TCM formula still widely…

Kushen (Sophora flavescens, shrubby sophora root) is one of the Chinese herbs with relatively strong anticancer activity. Not only TCM doctors but most Western oncology doctors acknowledge its anticancer effect; Kushen injection is a new herbal preparation commonly used by Western oncologists. Modern pharmacological studies…

In Water Margin, one of China's four great classical novels, Pan Jinlian, the sister-in-law of Wu Song, poisons Wu Song's elder brother Wu Dalang with arsenic, triggering Wu Song's revenge. Arsenic (pishuang) is a highly toxic Chinese medicinal, belonging to the category of violent poisons;…

Biejia Jian Wan is a classic famous formula from the Han-dynasty Zhang Zhongjing's "Jingui Yaolue" (Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet). Modern pharmaceutical versions are sometimes called Renshen Biejia Jian Wan (Ginseng Soft-Shelled Turtle Shell Decoction Pill). Its ingredients include soft-shelled turtle shell glue (Biejiajiao),…

Low white blood cell counts during chemotherapy are a common phenomenon among cancer patients. White-cell-boosting injections are both expensive and have significant side effects. They mainly work by stimulating bone-marrow hematopoietic cells to speed up white-cell production in order to maintain immunity. If used long-term,…

The Ming-dynasty physician Li Zhongzi specialized in treating ji-ju diseases (some of which correspond to today's various digestive-tract and pelvic tumors). Li Zhongzi had several formulas using rather vigorous herbs that were nevertheless very effective in attacking cancerous masses. This article first introduces one of…

Hutaorou, also called Hutaoren, is the kernel of the English walnut. It is both a delicious food and a potent medicinal. Both the leaves and fruits of the walnut contain juglone; in mice with ascites-type liver cancer, juglone prolonged survival by as much as 95%,…

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…

Recorded medicinal effects of the millipede (Shanqiongchong)[Properties] Pungent in taste; warm in nature; highly toxic. [Functions and indications] Breaks up zhengjia (abdominal masses) and jiju (accumulations); resolves toxic swellings. Mainly treats abdominal masses and accumulations; fullness below the flanks; unnamed toxic swellings; scrofula; malignant sores;…

Arsenic (pi shuang) has, since ancient times, been a toxin-attacking-with-toxin drug used in TCM clinical practice. The contemporary clinician Zhang Tingdong introduced it into the treatment of leukemia. Professor Zhang Tingdong is the founder of using arsenic to treat leukemia, and his achievement is one…