Overview
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views the human being as a whole and cancer is the local representation of systematic disease with syndromes of intermingled deficiency and excess. Treatment should focus on two-way regulation, systemic regulation, self-adjustment, and functional improvement, especially on strengthening patient’s ability to fight diseases. Traditional Chinese medicine not only has anti-cancer effect, but also has attenuation of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. It can relieve the symptoms, improve immunity and the quality of life. This is how traditional Chinese medicine strengthens body resistance. Additionally, external application and treatment of Chinese medicine, herbal fumigation and folk medicines have their features and effects.
Eliminating pathogen is another way for traditional Chinese medicine to treat cancer. The deficiency of vital Qi, dysfunction of organs and stasis of Qi, blood and phlegm are the causes of cancer. According to the theory of “determining the treatment based on differentiation of symptoms and signs” of TCM, and the principle of “Treating the same disease with different methods, different diseases with the same method”, the methods of promoting blood circulation for removing blood stasis, heat-clearing and removing toxins, strengthening the body resistance to eliminate pathogenic factors, and treat the malignant with poisonous agents, etc. are selected to obtain the target of treating both manifestation and root cause of disease and elimination of cancer.
In recent years, as people’s health conception and worldwide medical models change, medical professions in Hong Kong, Europe and America have studied and developed Chinese medicine practices.
Clinical Application
1.Oral Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Cancer
Oral administration of traditional Chinese decoction is the adoption of traditional Chinese medicine in treating cancer. The TCM syndromes of tumors in a special development stage have their own characteristics. These syndromes reflect not only the status and degree of the body’s internal Yin, Yang, Qi and blood disorders, but also the nature, location and extent of the environmental disorder in the body. The TCM syndrome type of cancer patients usually reflects accurate diagnosis and guides the rational choice of drugs. It can provide more comprehensive and accurate basis for the development of tumor treatment options. Malignant tumor is a complex disease; it is a local performance of a systemic disease. In addition to the modern medical diagnosis like anatomic site, histological type, cytology along with others, all kinds of clinical syndromes at different stages of disease need to be considered, such as the various deficiency, Qi stagnation, blood stasis, tanning, and toxic heat. During, or before and after the applications of abrasive therapies like surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and depending on different performances of clinical syndromes, syndrome differentiation treatments are taken. Local and systematic treatments are combined and targeted. The therapy is comprehensive and the effect is significantly improved.
2.TCM Injection for Cancer Therapy
The clinical effect of TCM injection on malignant tumors has been preliminarily confirmed. The anti-tumor TCM injection acting on the human body is characterized by multiple directions and multiple targets, in line with the mechanism of multiple factors and multiple links of pathogenesis. Although the direct depression effect of TCM injection is weak compared with chemically-synthesized drugs, its application range is progressively wider due to its advantages such as less toxic and side effect, uneasy generation of drug resistance and obvious comprehensive anti-tumor effect. The research on its effect mechanism will provide a theoretical basis for clinical therapies so as to direct clinical applications. In recent years, researches on the anti-cancer mechanism of TCM injection mainly include: cytotoxic effect on tumor cells, depression of new blood vessel formation, anti-metastasis effect, synergic action and toxic reduction of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, reversion of multiple drug resistance (MDR), induction of cell differentiation and immune adjustment.
3.External Application of TCM for Cancer Therapy
External therapy of TCM is characterized by obvious effects, no invasion, cheapness, easy acceptance, easy popularization, and no addiction; therefore it is of increasing interests to patients. At present, a variety of clinical methods are used comprehensively for root diseases, and they can not only “eliminate pathogenic factors” but also “strengthen the vital Qi”, highlighting the characteristics of TCM therapy. When a malignant tumor enters the advanced stage, it is difficult for the patient to take oral medications because of poor gastrointestinal function, which can affect the drug absorption and the effect of the drugs. At this point in time, the external therapy of TCM has its unique advantages.
Effect
The applications of external therapy of TCM during tumor therapy are mainly summarized as follows:
1) Anti-cancer and acesodyne
2) Inducing diuresis for removing edema, used for tumor complications such as pleural effusion and ascitic fluid
3) Softening and resolving hard mass for dispelling tumors
Routes of Administration
a.Transdermal drug delivery: The drugs are assisted by skin penetrant to penetrate into the epidermis which enters the capillaries, and then enter the blood and tissues through the capillaries; afterwards, they gather in the tumor location with rich blood vessels and exert their effects.
b.Umbilical compress therapy: It has the same advantages as those of the transdermal drug delivery above, and the umbilicus has high absorption and utilization rate of drugs. It has its own uniqueness for therapy on some diseases. Therefore, umbilical compress therapy can be used to relieve the pains caused by tumor infiltration and oppression on liver and part of intercostal nerves, upper and middle abdominal organs, and visceral peritoneum and viscera layers.
c.Acupoint injection: As for the acupoint drug administration, it brings about both quick drug effect and doubling of drug effect. Experiments show that meridian acupoint administration can amplify and enhance the effect of drugs.
d.Mucosal administration: The administration is made mainly through mouth, eyes, nasal mucosa, vagina, and rectal mucosa. As for the mucosal administration, its absorption rate is better than skin; with relatively stable drug effect and particularly high concentration of drugs in the administration sites, the drug effect is increased. However, we need to pay attention to the irritation and damage of the drugs on the skin and mucous membranes, to avoid the increase of sufferings of the patients.
e.Gargling or fumigation and washing therapy: Drugs are boiled into decoction which is gargled in mouth and disgorged without swallowing. It is mainly used for patients with oropharyngeal cancers, oral mucous membrane response caused by radiotherapy or chemotherapy, oral cancer, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Considering its special anatomical location, sipping application, mouthwash, blowing the nose and medical gas fumigation can be applied from time to time to increase the concentration of drugs on the focus site. These materials, such as mints, fortune eupatorium herb, and raw licorice, are commonly used.
Fumigation and washing: Fumigation and washing therapy means that drugs are boiled into hot decoction, which are then used to fumigate and wash the skin or affected places. For the patients with brachioneus caused by radical treatment of breast cancer, and lower leg swelling caused by the lower limb inguinal region lymph node metastasis, the fumigation and washing as well as dipping of the affected legs for detumescence can be conducted by decoction with rhizome of Sichuan lovage, frankincense, myrrh, plantain seed, and Indian bread. This is to relieve the suffering of the patients.
f.Enema: Enema is a method that drugs are made into liquid and injected into diseased regions through enema syringe which is inserted into the affected parts. For patients with colorectal cancer, apply enema with decoction of dandelion, coptis root, sargentgloryvine stem, prepared rhubarb, gleditsia sinensis, and pleione rhizome, allowing the drugs to reach the affected areas and act on the focuses directly through mucous membranes, which can attack evil toxicities, fight against cancers and relieve pains, thus improving the life quality of patients.
g.Foot bath: Cancer patients with high blood pressure, or head sweating or asthma can take foot bath with decoction of anemarrhena rhizome, cassia bark, peach kernel, and rhizome of Sichuan lovage cyathula officinalis, to disperse internal heat and induce Qi for recovery.
h.Esophageal paste: When patients have any difficulty with swallowing, they can triturate notoginseng, sal ammoniac, root of subprostrate sophora, arnebia root and etc…Which are combined with lotus root starch for swallowing; this can be helpful in improving the esophageal obstruction symptom.
i.External application of plaster: Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of TCM, the third factory of Shanghai TCM Pharmaceutical Factory, has developed the toad venom paste to treat malignant tumors. This prescription is a TCM adhesive plaster composed of 18 drugs, such as venom paste, aconite root, pricklyash root, lilac flower, cassia bark, asarum, Paris polyphylla, and safflower. This plaster can be used for various cancer pains, with sound therapeutic effects.
