Do I need traditional Chinese medicine treatment? Chemotherapy and targeted therapy can't kill tumor cells, can traditional Chinese medicine help?

 

Today, traditional Chinese medicine is increasingly being used in clinical oncology to alleviate the toxic side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, extend survival, and improve quality of life, which are unique functions of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of tumors.

 

On March 30th, at the scene of the fifth "Building and Sharing National Health" public welfare event, Fang Wenzhen from the Department of Oncology, Fujian Provincial People's Hospital, introduced the relevant content of "How Traditional Chinese Medicine Helps Us on the Anti-Cancer Road" from the perspectives of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of traditional Chinese medicine. It's full of valuable information! Let's take a look together.

 

At the fifth "Building and Sharing National Health" public welfare event, Fang Wenzhen from the Department of Oncology, Fujian Provincial People's Hospital, conducted a popular science sharing on "Traditional Chinese Medicine Prevention and Treatment of Tumors".

 

1. The concept of "prevention" in traditional Chinese medicine

 

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, there is a saying, "treating illness before it arises," which means that skilled doctors intervene promptly before the onset of disease, adjusting the body's imbalance and emphasizing the importance of "prevention."

 

Regarding tumor prevention, Traditional Chinese Medicine primarily focuses on three aspects:

 

- Lifestyle habits: Especially, it's important to quit unhealthy habits such as smoking, excessive drinking, and staying up late.

- Strengthening Healthy Qi: Traditional Chinese Medicine emphasizes the importance of maintaining inner balance. Daily attention to nurturing the body's positive energy is essential, as a strong positive energy can suppress pathogenic factors.

- Preventing progress of disease: Emphasis is placed on "treatment upon syndrome differentiation," which involves adjusting the body as a whole.

 

2. The concept of "treatment" in traditional Chinese medicine 

 

In the process of treating tumors, traditional Chinese medicine mainly plays a role in "alleviating toxic and side effects."

 

Western medicine treatment of tumors can lead to adverse reactions such as depression, anxiety, and insomnia, which can be significantly alleviated by combining with traditional Chinese medicine:

 

1) Alleviating symptoms of nausea and vomiting

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting are the most common adverse reactions; traditional Chinese medicine adopts the treatment principles of warming the center and rectifying qi, and fortifying the spleen and checking diarrhea.

 

→ Internally administered Chinese medicines such as Scutellaria Decoction, Center-Rectifying Decoction, Four Milled Ingredients Decoction Oral Liquid, and Ginseng & Poria Granules for Strengthening the Spleen and Stomach are selected.

 

2) Alleviating symptoms such as fatigue, pallor, and poor spirit

Tumor patients often experience bone marrow suppression during chemotherapy, resulting in dizziness, fatigue, pallor, body weakness, and poor spirit; traditional Chinese medicine mainly supplements qi, nourishes blood, supplements the kidney and nourishes yin.

 

→ Traditional Chinese medicine interventions use Eight-Gem Decoction, Spleen-Returning Decoction, and Chinese Angelica Blood-Supplementing Decoction, etc.

 

3) Nourishing the heart, boosting the kidneys, and protecting the liver

Basic research indicates that blood-quickening stasis-transforming drugs can reduce the cardiotoxic effects caused by chemotherapy.

 

→ Traditional Chinese medicine uses Virgate Wormwood Decoction to treat drug-induced liver damage after chemotherapy, and Reishi also has a good hepatoprotective effect; modified Six-Ingredient Rehmannia Decoction can treat kidney damage after chemotherapy.

 

4) Regulating emotions and aiding sleep

Sleep disorders and depression are common adverse reactions, and the traditional Chinese medicine treatment principle is to course the liver and rectify qi, and fortify the spleen and resolve depression.

 

→ Traditional Chinese medicine selects prescriptions such as Pinellia and Officinal Magnolia Bark Decoction, Bupleurum Liver-Coursing Powder, Free Wanderer Powder, and Chinese Angelica Spleen-Returning Pill to course the liver and rectify qi, and fortify the spleen and supplement the blood.

 

3. Reishi mushroom ranks among the herbal medicines or extracts that have been confirmed to possess anti-cancer activity.

 

Today's research has confirmed that many traditional Chinese medicinal herbs or their extracts indeed possess anti-cancer activity. For example, the active ingredient ginsenoside Rg3 in ginseng, as well as icariin extracted and isolated from the traditional Chinese herb Epimedium, commonly known as "Horny Goat Weed." Epimedium is known for its ability to supplement kidney yang, strengthen sinew and bone, and dispel wind-damp.

 

Furthermore, Ganoderma, commonly known as lingzhi or reishi, classified as a superior herb in the "Shennong Ben Cao Jing" (Shennong's Herbal Classic), is characterized by its neutral nature and non-toxicity. Its efficacy, as recorded in the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia," includes supplementing qi and tranquilizing the spirit, and suppressing cough and relieving wheezing. It has been found to be effective in reducing insomnia and relieving cough and wheezing caused by lung deficiency during the process of tumor treatment.

 

 

Dr. Fang mentioned that Reishi polysaccharides are one of the crucial active ingredients of Reishi, known for their anti-aging properties, enhancement of hypoxia tolerance, antioxidative effects by scavenging free radicals, and immune modulation. They can be used to assist radiotherapy and chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer.

 

Dr. Fang also referenced Professor Lin Zhibin's theory on Reishi's adjunctive treatment for tumors, stating that Reishi not only directly kills tumor cells but also inhibits tumor angiogenesis, promotes tumor cell apoptosis, and enhances cellular immunity. These actions collectively demonstrate its multi-targeted anti-tumor effects.

 

 

Whether during tumor treatment or post-operative recovery, combining Reishi consumption can enhance efficacy, reduce toxicity, improve sleep, alleviate anxiety, and enhance quality of life. It can be said to achieve multiple benefits with a single action.

 

4. The concept of "recovery" in traditional Chinese medicine

 

In the realm of tumor rehabilitation, traditional Chinese medicine primarily focuses on the principle of "supporting right and banking up the root."

 

In addition to medication and emotional regulation, complementary exercise such as Baduanjin and Five-animal Exercises is employed to promote meridian flow and adjust constitution.

 

By comprehensively regulating the body, the goal is to achieve dynamic balance within the internal environment.

 

 

Ultimately, in the journey of combating cancer, the organic integration of prevention, treatment, and recovery in traditional Chinese medicine is indispensable. The combination of strengthening healthy energy and dispelling pathogenic factors, as well as differentiation of syndrome and disease, serves to regulate constitution, ensuring the equilibrium between yin and yang in the body, thereby achieving ultimate recovery or even realizing "living with cancer."