Cancer is a common disease that seriously endangers human health. The 2010 annual report released by the National Tumor Registry shows that the incidence rate of malignant tumors in our region is 276,16 /100,000, and it is estimated that there can be up to 3 million new cases in China every year. At present, China has entered into an aging society and the elderly population has increased dramatically, which is followed by the increase of diseases of the elderly. The elderly are more prone to cancer on the basis of chronic diseases due to the physiological changes of aging, and its incidence is much higher than that of the middle-aged and young people, and it is predicted that by 2030, the prevalence of cancer among people over 65 years old will further increase, accounting for about 70% of the total number of tumors. Tumors in the elderly are not different in nature from those in other age groups. However, due to the physiological characteristics of old age is the atrophy and reduced function of the parenchymal organs of the body, which also shows the impaired activation of T cells in immune decline and defective cellular immune function. Therefore, the elderly are susceptible to infections, tumors, and autoimmune diseases [2]. Elderly tumor patients are senile and weak, or suffer from a variety of cardio-cerebral underlying diseases, and often exhibit non-specific tumor symptoms, which clinically can easily lead to underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis. In addition, elderly tumor patients have fragile bone marrow reserve and gastrointestinal function, which are poorly tolerated to radiotherapy and cannot tolerate strong treatment. Because the basic metabolism of the elderly is reduced, the development of tumor is slow and the metastasis rate is relatively low, which is conducive to the better utilization of the advantages of Chinese medicine, slowing down the treatment and fine-tuning the balance, so that the local lesions of tumor (cancerous evil qi) and the whole body constitution (positive qi) can reach a relatively stable and balanced state, and then the “survival with tumor” may appear. The stable stage of “survival with tumor” may occur. This is also the characteristic and advantage of TCM in treating tumors in the elderly. Therefore, Chinese medicine occupies a very important position in the treatment of geriatric tumors. In this paper, combining the academic experience of contemporary oncologists and our own clinical experience, we briefly discuss the TCM treatment strategy for elderly tumors from the following five aspects. 1. Treatment should be slow and easy: Older people over 60 years old are the age group with high incidence of tumors. Since elderly people have low immune function, reduced digestive function, slow blood flow, increased blood viscosity, previous cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, etc., and some elderly people have reduced liver and kidney function and weakened excretory and detoxification function, therefore, treatment of elderly patients with weak tumors should be based on accurate assessment of their physical condition, biological characteristics of tumors, i.e., how malignant they are, pathology and clinical stage of tumors. Therefore, the treatment of elderly frail tumor patients should be based on the accurate assessment of their physical condition, biological characteristics of tumors, i.e., their malignant degree, pathology and clinical stage of tumors, and on the basis of comprehensive analysis of their conditions, a comprehensive treatment plan suitable for individual patients and affordable to their physical condition and financial ability should be formulated. In the past 20 years, many medical doctors have changed their understanding of cancer and consider cancer as a chronic disease, such as Professor John Glaspie of the University of California Cancer Research Center. Professor Glaspy said, “Cancer should be treated as a chronic disease so that we can focus on improving the quality of life of the patient rather than having to cure the disease, and if we can get the patient to survive and live a happy life, that is a very impressive outcome.” In fact, elderly tumor patients have slower progression and can be treated as a chronic disease with the aim of delaying tumor progression, alleviating symptoms, reducing pain and improving quality of life (survival with tumor). Based on this, we should adopt a moderate and fine-tuned treatment strategy based on the principles of “eliminating evil without harming the righteousness” and “stopping a large accumulation of tumors by decaying the majority of them” when formulating the treatment strategy in TCM. Zhang elements in the “living method of the machine” said: “If with the grinding of the hard knot-breaking drugs to treat, although the disease has gone and people have decayed. Dry lacquer, salammoniac sand, three prongs, rhubarb, draws and so on, with the time is temporarily fast, the drug is still, the more the gas is eliminated, the greater the disease, after all, what benefit! Therefore, the treatment of disease, when the first to nurture the right to remove the product since.” [3] Qiu Peiran, a master of national medicine, also believes that “cancer toxicity is difficult to be removed quickly, but the vital energy should be fixed urgently. Cancer toxicity is different from the evil of the six external influences, and it is a self-inflicted disease of the original Qi. Therefore, the treatment should follow the principle of “slow to figure out”, moderate and timely, “treating a big country is like cooking a small dish”, “too much is not enough”, “if you want to be fast, you cannot achieve”. The principle of “Slowly to figure out” is appropriate and timely. We should not pursue local and short-term tumor shrinkage as the goal, but should always take into account the overall function of the organism, so that the tumor and the organism can reach a relatively balanced state, prolong the survival period, improve the quality of life, and live with tumor for a long time! 2.Mixed treatment and generous compound method: Elderly tumors often have atypical symptoms in the early stage and are found to be in the middle and late stage, so the single treatment means cannot achieve the purpose of cure. The so-called mixed treatment is not a haphazard patchwork of multiple treatment methods, but an organic combination of various effective treatment methods, or even a combination of Chinese medicine, western medicine, surgery, radiotherapy and other means, and a multidisciplinary and comprehensive treatment mode, with the aim of obtaining the best therapeutic effect. In terms of purely TCM treatment, one can choose to use Chinese herbs internally, externally, acupuncture, moxibustion and other methods. The prescription of traditional Chinese medicine is often an organic combination of medicine to support the righteousness and dispel the evil, which is not only to benefit the qi and blood, nourish the spleen and kidney, but also to regulate the qi and disperse the knots, clear the heat and detoxify the toxins, activate the blood to remove blood stasis, resolve phlegm and dampness, soften the hardness and eliminate the y. Because of the complex etiology of tumor, the original deficiency and the actual symptoms, the qi, blood, phlegm, dampness, stasis and toxins are mutually agglutinated, so it is difficult to obtain the effect by a single method. Therefore, Zhou Zhongying, the master of national medicine, advocates that the treatment of tumor should be “generous in compound method”, but the formula is large and there are many medicines, not simply piling up the medicines for benefit of Qi and blood, spleen and kidney, and anti-cancer and detoxification, but highlighting and focusing according to the etiology and pathogenesis, so that although the formula is large and there are many medicines, there are levels and combinations, so it can respond to the pathogenesis and obtain good effect. The formula is so large and there are so many drugs, but there are layers and combinations, so it can be adapted to the disease and get good effect. Therefore, although the prescriptions are large and the drugs are in different levels and combinations, they can respond to the disease mechanism and achieve good effect. 3.Consistent treatment of disease and evidence Chinese medicine evidence-based treatment is based on the etiology and clinical manifestations of tumor, applying the four diagnostic methods and the eight syllabuses to conduct comprehensive analysis, determine a certain evidence type and give corresponding treatment. It is an important treatment principle that should be followed in the treatment of tumors in the elderly. The symptoms or patterns identified reflect the generalized pathology of tumor patients at the current stage. However, as tumor disease has its whole process of occurrence, development and evolution, its symptoms or patterns are not invariable or single, but may evolve during the natural development of the disease or after treatment, for example, lung cancer in the early stage can be seen as qi deficiency certificate or qi-yin two deficiency certificate, and as the disease progresses and yin-yang qi, blood and fluid are depleted, lung cancer in the advanced stage can be seen as yin deficiency internal heat certificate or yin-yang two deficiency certificate. If we master the dynamic evolution of lung cancer, we will have a comprehensive and holistic grasp of its treatment and will not make the mistake of gluing one certificate to the end, which is the dynamic identification treatment and the embodiment of the holistic and constant view of Chinese medicine. At the same time, the treatment of disease identification is based on the traditional experience of Chinese medicine or the pharmacological research of modern anti-tumor drugs, and different anti-cancer detoxification drugs are selected according to the unique “voodoo” or “cancer toxin” factors of tumor diseases. For example, for digestive system tumors, we can use Hachioji, Radix et Rhizoma, Radix et Rhizoma, Rhizoma alba, Radix et Rhizoma stoloniferum, etc.; for urinary system tumors, we often use Rhizoma Dioscorea, Radix et Rhizoma Poria, Radix et Rhizoma cypress, Radix et Rhizoma bitter, Radix et Rhizoma dahuricae, etc.; for head and neck tumors, we can use Radix et Rhizoma jingyinhua, Radix et Rhizoma forsythia, Radix et Rhizoma spp. The combined disease and evidence treatment model focuses on both the overall evidence and the local cancer toxicity. It is more comprehensive and objective, and the organic combination of the two has improved the clinical efficacy of tumors in the elderly. In Ming Dynasty, Li Zhongzhi’s “The Essential Reading of Medicine” said, “At the first stage, the tumor is not treated. In the middle of the disease, the evil is deeper and the righteousness is weaker, so it is subject to attack and tonic; in the end, the disease is long-lasting, the evil is invasive and the righteousness is disabled, so it is subject to tonic [4].” It is more scientific to divide the pathogenesis of tumor into early, middle and late stages, and to formulate the corresponding treatment principles, namely, early stage is based on eliminating evil and eliminating evil without harming the righteousness; middle stage helps the righteousness and eliminates evil at the same time; late stage helps the righteousness and eliminates evil at the right time. In the clinical evidence, we must decide the main, secondary, slow and urgent treatment according to the degree of positive, evil, deficiency and actuality of the patient. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy of modern medicine can be regarded as the harsh and fierce means of “eliminating evil” in TCM, and their intensity is stronger than the harsh and fierce treatment methods of TCM, such as attacking with poison and attacking with poison, etc. They should be used well and cautiously instead of being feared but not used. Therefore, in the comprehensive treatment of tumors in the elderly, TCM should be applied in stages to give full play to its advantages. For early post-operative patients, TCM treatment can help post-operative rehabilitation, reduce symptoms and post-operative complications, and long-term use of TCM can prevent and reduce post-operative recurrence and metastasis to a certain extent; in the post-operative adjuvant treatment stage, TCM can reduce the toxicity of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and increase the therapeutic effect (increase effectiveness and reduce toxicity); after post-operative and adjuvant radiotherapy, long-term use of TCM can Stabilize the disease, consolidate the therapeutic effect, prevent or reduce recurrence and metastasis, and improve the long-term efficacy. For elderly tumor patients with advanced stage and unsuitable for surgery and radiotherapy, the application of Chinese medicine can effectively improve clinical symptoms, relieve pain and improve survival quality, and to a certain extent, control tumor progression and prolong survival time by mainly supporting the righteousness and supplementing the evil. Professor Liu Jiaxiang from Longhua Hospital of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine conducted a prospective study through a multicenter, large sample and randomized control method, and the results showed that the Chinese medicine mainly for fostering the righteousness and cultivating the root had the effect of prolonging the survival period and improving the quality of survival of stage III and IV non-small cell lung cancer patients. Thus, according to the functional state of qi, blood and internal organs of elderly tumor patients and the pathological stage of tumor, staged and phased treatment and formulation of scientific and patient-appropriate treatment strategies are also key aspects to achieve good curative effects. According to Chinese medicine, “all diseases are born from qi”, the seven emotions will affect the operation of qi and blood of the whole body and the function of internal organs, which is also an important factor in the development of tumor. The most important thing is that it is not only the most important thing, but also the most important thing. What is meant by “medical” is: “Women who are paranoid and good at anger will develop carbuncles, and those who are depressed will gradually become a rock.” The role of adverse emotional factors in the development of tumors is emphasized. In addition to drug treatment, regulating emotion and maintaining an optimistic state of mind also plays a positive role in the efficacy and prognosis of tumors in the elderly. In the Compilation of Medical Cases of External Evidence by Yu Hanghong of the Qing Dynasty, it is said that “it is advisable to regulate the temperament and suppress the liver to help the earth, which will be effective in the slow period” and “this disease is mostly due to the disharmony of liver qi, so it is beneficial to have a relaxed mood” [5]. Chinese medicine emphasizes the unity of form and spirit and the regulation of emotion and spirit, which play a positive and beneficial role in the treatment of elderly tumors and should not be ignored. In conclusion, the systemic state of elderly tumor patients and the pathological characteristics of the tumors they suffer from determine their clinical treatment strategies differ from those of young and middle-aged tumor patients. In the whole process of treatment for elderly tumor patients, TCM treatment has an irreplaceable and important position. It is worthwhile for us to continue our clinical practice and research on how to further utilize the advantages of TCM treatment to achieve better efficacy in stabilizing and shrinking tumor lesions, improving the immune status of the body, improving patients’ survival quality and prolonging survival time.