Anti-Cancer Herbs ⁽¹⁷¹⁾

In TCM external medicine, the toad is a treasure. Many external-medicine conditions rely on the toad's "using poison to attack poison" for treatment. The famous TCM educator Professor Wang Mianzhi, when lecturing on Formula Studies, once mentioned that in his childhood back home, when children…

The Chinese medicine Zhuye (Bamboo Leaf) is the leaf of Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis and related grasses of the Poaceae family. TCM holds that bamboo leaf is sweet and bland in taste, cold in nature, and enters the lung, heart and stomach meridians; it has…

Sijiqing (Four-Season Green) is an anti-cancer medicine commonly used by doctors in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region. It is the leaf of the Chinese holly (Ilex chinensis), a plant of the Ilex genus in the Aquifoliaceae family; hence it is also called holly leaf (Bencao Shiyi), commonly…

Honggencao (Red-Root Herb) is a folk medicinal herb; most TCM pharmacies or TCM hospitals do not carry it, and one must go to a large medicinal-herb wholesale market to buy it, or harvest it oneself. Honggencao is the whole herb with roots of Salvia prionitis…

The Chinese medicine puffball (mabo) is the dried fruiting body of fungi of the Lycoperdaceae family, mainly Lasiosphaera fenzlii, Calvatia gigantea and Calvatia lilacina. It has aliases such as machibao and niushigu. Although puffball is not an edible mushroom, it was used as a medicinal…

Asparagus Root (Tianmendong, also called Tiandong) is the tuberous root of Asparagus cochinchinensis, a plant of the Liliaceae family and the Asparagus genus. As early as in the Divine Farmer's Materia Medica (Shennong Bencao Jing), it was listed among the commonly used herbs. The Divine…

The castor bean is the seed of Ricinus communis, a plant of the Euphorbiaceae family and the Ricinus genus. Castor is an annual tall herb distributed throughout the country; in tropical or southern regions it often becomes a perennial shrub or small tree. The castor…

Maweilian is the root and rhizome of Thalictrum species such as T. glandulosissimum, T. tsao-oo, T. cultratum, and T. faberi of the buttercup family. Named for its horsetail-like shape and Coptis-like taste, it contains berberine (the main alkaloid of Coptis, or Huanglian). Maweilian is mainly…

Yunzhi is the fruiting body of Coriolus versicolor (turkey tail), a fungus of the Polyporaceae family; it is also called Versicolor Polypore, Grey Lingzhi, or Tile Mushroom. Named for its cloud-like appearance, Yunzhi is, in TCM, sweet and cold, and clears heat and resolves toxins,…

The Chinese herbal piece Huzhang is the dried rhizome and root of Reynoutria japonica (Polygonum cuspidatum), a member of the buckwheat family; it is named for the tiger-skin-like mottling on the stem of the parent plant. It is also called Dachongzhang, Banzhang, Ku Zhang, and…