I am a Chinese medicine oncologist, and most of the patients around me come to seek treatment in Chinese medicine as soon as they start to get sick, or within a very short period of time after being treated by modern medicine. Today, I read on the Internet a published figure that about 40% of the people who have got tumors in China have never come into contact with Chinese medicine since the beginning of their lives. I could not believe it when I saw this figure. I think it is common sense that when you have a tumor, you have to have comprehensive treatment and combine Chinese and Western medicines. But it is true that some patients are still too late to understand the viewpoint of integrated treatment of tumor, or there are various misunderstandings in the Chinese medicine treatment of tumor, resulting in his failure to receive Chinese medicine treatment in time and correctly. Below, I will analyze the common misunderstandings of patients in receiving Chinese medicine treatment. Zhang Ying, Oncology Department, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Misconception 1: Only when radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery are of no help, Chinese medicine will be chosen: such a situation often exists: the patient with tumor is already at the end of his life, and his family members will ask the doctor what else can they do? The doctor will say, “Go and get some traditional Chinese medicine. In fact, this is a big mistake, Chinese medicine plays different roles at different stages in the comprehensive treatment of tumors. To summarize, applying traditional Chinese medicine before and after surgery can promote recovery; applying traditional Chinese medicine during radiotherapy and chemotherapy can reduce the toxicity and increase the effect; applying traditional Chinese medicine in the maintenance stage can reduce the recurrence and metastasis; applying traditional Chinese medicine in the late stage can improve the quality of life and prolong the survival. Therefore, according to this, it can be seen that Chinese medicine treatment should be carried out throughout all stages of tumor treatment, rather than coming to be applied when there is no way out at the end. Myth 2: Expectation of Chinese medicine is too high: We often meet such patients, “Doctor, I have taken so many Chinese medicines, why the tumor has not shrunk?” Or “Doctor, can I treat my tumor by only taking Chinese medicine?” and so on. And so on and so forth. The point to be clarified here is that malignant tumors are currently a medical problem that has not yet been conquered on an international scale, so in order to achieve the best therapeutic effect, it is necessary to treat the tumor with comprehensive means, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, biological therapy, and traditional Chinese medicine therapy. Even so, the cure rate of tumor is still very low in the world. Although in recent years, with the development and progress of targeted therapy, the medical profession is more and more inclined to regard tumor as a kind of chronic disease similar to hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, etc., but try to ask, this kind of disease, the current means of treatment, is not just to play a long-term treatment, the purpose of controlling the disease. Therefore, we should not blindly expect too much from Chinese medicine in treating tumors, but should actively cooperate with the medication, remembering that the necessary modern medicine should not be ignored, and strive to achieve the maximum efficacy in the treatment of such chronic diseases as tumors. Myth 3: Chinese medicine will hinder the efficacy of radiotherapy: this situation is not only a common concern for tumor patients, but also a mistake for professional oncologists, who often hear some patients say, “The doctor in so-and-so hospital won’t let me take Chinese medicine”. Therefore, it is necessary for me to emphasize again that the treatment of tumor is a comprehensive treatment, and it should be noted that Chinese medicine will not hinder the efficacy of radiotherapy. I once met a patient, because the doctor in charge did not allow her to seek Chinese medicine treatment, and as a result, after 8 cycles of chemotherapy, it led to serious peripheral nerve damage, so serious that her feet could not feel the high ground above the road surface and she frequently fell down. Herbal medicine has both preventive and therapeutic effects on this peripheral nerve damage caused by chemotherapy, and more importantly, the preventive effect is much greater than the therapeutic effect. Just imagine, if this patient and the doctor in charge could have accepted Chinese medicine and adopted Chinese medicine treatment from the very beginning, wouldn’t this patient have been able to avoid the inconvenience in life caused by the side effects of chemotherapy. Moreover, Chinese medicine on radiotherapy toxicity and synergistic effect, its confirmed by clinical trials, can be used with confidence, do not have to worry about. Misunderstanding four: blindly seeking treatment, delay the condition there is a situation, is another extreme, often encountered in the clinic such patients, “doctor, I think surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy are too suffering, you have no special treatment of my disease special effects of traditional Chinese medicine,” there are often met with a number of patients because of listening to the community’s wandering doctors, fake Chinese medicine, and suffer from the big words of the Chinese medicine. There are also patients who often meet some patients because of listening to the big words of the traveling doctors and fake Chinese medicine practitioners in the society, and they are cheated and deceived and delayed their condition. I once met a patient, after ovarian cancer surgery, refused to carry out conventional chemotherapy to consolidate the treatment, but listened to the words of some fake Chinese medicine practitioners in the society, saying that they should eat raw eggplant, raw potatoes and other raw things, and could not eat meat, etc., and also took what they gave to the modulation of what specialized in treating tumors in the ointment, and the result was not only the tumor was widely metastasized, but also came to the clinic due to severe malnutrition, the hemoglobin was only 4.5 grams (the normal person is 11-15 grams). Normal people are 11-15 grams), the previous period of Zhang Wuben time is a very good warning, it is recommended that patients do not forget to use Chinese medicine treatment, but when choosing Chinese medicine treatment, you must keep your eyes peeled. In fact, it is very simple to identify, regular Chinese medicine tumor doctor will never say “no surgery, no radiotherapy, no chemotherapy, cure tumor” and so on, he will be very objective analysis of your condition, according to your situation to decide the prescription. Myth 5: The difference between traditional Chinese medicine and health care products: Almost all patients can not distinguish the boundaries of traditional Chinese medicine and health care products, and often patients ask me, “Doctor, can I eat Ganoderma Lucidum Seed Powder”, “Doctor, can I eat so-and-so nutrients,” and so on, and usually I answer, “If someone else sends me some nutrients, I will never say, “No surgery, no radiotherapy, no chemotherapy, no cure for tumor,” and so on. Usually I answered, “If it is given to you by others, you can take some of it if it does not affect your normal medication, but if you pay for it yourself, there is no need to do so, and keep the money to buy medication or improve your diet.” But there are some patients who eat a lot of health supplements every day, even so much that it affects their normal eating. In the end, health care products can only play a health care role, it is possible to supplement some of the body’s trace elements or nutrients, but after all, it is not a drug, nor is it food, drugs can have a therapeutic effect, diversified food can ensure that the body needs a variety of nutrients, so health care in the treatment of tumors and health care should be ranked in the drugs and food after. It is suggested that patients must avoid this point and must not put the cart before the horse, which is regrettable. To sum up, when you have a tumor, don’t forget that there is an important treatment means-Chinese medicine treatment while deciding on surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and biological treatment. Moreover, when choosing Chinese medicine treatment, you should avoid the above mentioned misunderstandings and choose correctly so as to get the best therapeutic effect in the end.