Can liver cancer be treated with Chinese medicine?
Can liver cancer be treated with traditional Chinese medicine? This is a question often asked by many liver cancer patients. The answer is absolutely yes, Chinese medicine can not only cure liver cancer, but also some of them can be cured, and patients can spend less money and enjoy a better quality of life. Even for liver cancer which is not treated by western medicine at all, some patients can achieve certain curative effect through traditional Chinese medicine treatment.
1.The efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine in treating liver cancer
(1) Chinese medicine has a history of thousands of years in treating liver cancer. As early as in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, there was a clear discussion on liver cancer in the book “Nangjing”, and there were a lot of discussions, prescriptions and medical cases on liver cancer treatment in the subsequent generations, which can be regarded as the evidence of the effectiveness of Chinese medicine in treating liver cancer. However, in ancient Chinese medicine, it was not called liver cancer, but “gangrene” or “dropsy” in Chinese medicine terminology.
(2) If we check the professional journals, we can find a lot of clinical reports on the effective treatment of liver cancer by Chinese medicine, which are proved by strict clinical trials.
(3) I have carried out long-term clinical practice of Chinese medicine in treating liver cancer, and it has been proved that it is not only effective, but also some liver cancers can be cured.
2.What is the mechanism through which Chinese medicine treats liver cancer?
Chinese medicine treats liver cancer mainly through the following mechanisms.
(1) By improving liver function and controlling the long-term inflammatory state of the liver, the basis for further development of liver cancer is cut off. A large number of studies have shown that the continuous stimulation of inflammatory factors is an important basis for hepatocellular carcinogenesis.
(2) Promoting apoptosis and necrosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and inhibiting newborn hepatocellular carcinoma cells by improving the body’s immune surveillance against hepatocellular carcinoma cells
(3) By improving appetite, sleep and defecation of liver cancer patients, promoting the improvement of the whole body nutritional status and immune status of liver cancer patients, thus effectively improving immunity.
3.What are the methods through which Chinese medicine treats liver cancer?
There are many methods of Chinese medicine for treating liver cancer, which can be divided into supporting the positive and eliminating the evil in terms of general classification. The methods of helping the righteous mainly include
(1) regulating the spleen and stomach
(2) nourishing the liver and kidney
(3) warming the Yang and benefiting the Qi
(4) to regulate the flow of Qi.
The methods to dispel the evil mainly include
(1) dispelling dampness and resolving phlegm
(2) invigorating blood and resolving blood stasis
(3) eliminating stagnation and inducing stagnation.
(4) Clearing heat and detoxifying toxins.
An important method of Chinese medicine in the treatment of liver cancer is to attack poison with poison, and commonly used drugs include Zanthoxylum, Toadstool, Centipede, etc. At present, many Chinese medicines such as Jinlong capsule, Huachansu, compound Zanthoxylum, etc. with these drugs as main components are widely used in clinical treatment of liver cancer, not only by Chinese medicine but also by western medicine. A lot of practice shows that for toxic Chinese medicines, they are very safe for human body as long as the correct method is mastered. In recent years, arsenic extracted from traditional Chinese medicine arsenic has also been applied in the clinical treatment of liver cancer, and clinical research has proved that it has certain efficacy. It is not surprising that the method of fighting poison with poison is to use the cytotoxic effect of drugs to inhibit the growth of tumor cells, which is the same mechanism as chemotherapy in western medicine.
4.The characteristic of Chinese medicine in treating liver cancer is evidence-based treatment
The so-called discriminative treatment, in common language, means highly individualized and precise treatment. At present, Western medicine also emphasizes individualized treatment for tumors and pursues precise treatment. Chinese medicine treatment is based on the individual, the time and the place. The same patient with liver cancer will be treated flexibly according to various factors such as the patient’s condition, age, gender and region, which is highly flexible.
5.Chinese medicine treatment for liver cancer does not conflict with western medicine treatment
Many patients worry whether traditional Chinese medicine treatment will conflict with western medical treatment, which is not necessary. From the viewpoint of Chinese medicine, all western medical treatments are based on “eliminating evil” – destroying cancer cells, but all western medical treatments can hardly destroy cancer cells completely. However, it is difficult to completely destroy cancer cells with all western medical treatments. Through Chinese medicine treatment, the residual liver cancer cells can be eliminated, the immunity can be enhanced to prevent recurrence, and the overall liver function can be improved to completely transform the soil where liver cancer occurs.
6.When to start Chinese medicine treatment
Traditional Chinese medicine has always emphasized “treating the disease before it happens”, which means emphasizing prevention. If pre-cancerous lesions of liver are properly treated, a large proportion of them can be prevented from turning into liver cancer. Of course, the earlier the herbal treatment for liver cancer, the better the effect. After surgical or interventional treatment, giving Chinese medicine treatment as soon as possible can obviously reduce the adverse effects brought by western medical treatment and improve the efficacy and prevent recurrence.
Many patients think of traditional Chinese medicine only when all western medical treatments are not feasible and they are at the end of their rope, which is mostly too late. Advanced liver cancer is often accompanied by high degree of abdominal distension, and it is very difficult to eat and drink traditional Chinese medicine, which is often even more difficult. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine should be used as early as possible and the time should not be missed.
7.Advantages of traditional Chinese medicine in treating liver cancer
(1) Reduce economic burden: Adopting traditional Chinese medicine treatment can improve the efficacy and obviously reduce the number of times patients receive interventions and other treatments, and reduce the number of hospitalizations due to complications such as ascites and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
(2) Reduction of pain: As mentioned above, Chinese herbal medicine treatment can reduce the number of interventions and hospitalization due to complications, which not only reduces the pain of the disease, but also reduces the pain caused by the treatment.
(3) Improvement of quality of life: Studies have shown that patients who receive herbal treatment have a higher quality of life than those who do not receive herbal treatment. And reducing the number of hospitalizations is undoubtedly equivalent to increasing the quality of survival time.
8.Why some western doctors do not recommend herbal treatment for liver cancer patients
(1) Out of ignorance of TCM knowledge: Since TCM and Western medicine are two different medical systems, most Western doctors know little about TCM knowledge, and without understanding TCM, they are prone to reject TCM and blindly deny TCM. Academician Wu Mengchao, Academician Tang Zhaoyou and Professor Wang Baoen are all great leaders in liver disease in China. They are all Western doctors, but they not only do not reject TCM for liver disease, but also support it and carry out research on TCM for liver cancer personally. The Western medical personnel who blindly deny Chinese medicine treatment are all personnel with more limited knowledge in comparison.
(2) From the demand of clinical research: the current clinical research all requires the design according to evidence-based medicine, and the western medical personnel must exclude the interference of Chinese medicine on the efficacy of western medicine treatment for liver cancer in order to observe the efficacy of western medicine treatment, even if Chinese medicine treatment improves the efficacy. And many western medical doctors have to achieve the purpose of excluding interference through denial in order to complete their research projects.
Of course, there are some western doctors who abuse Chinese medicine while denigrating Chinese medicine, and their intentions are not enough for outsiders.
9.What issues should be noted in Chinese medicine for liver cancer treatment?
(1) Choose an experienced specialist. Chinese medicine treatment for liver cancer is highly specialized, so one should be careful in choosing a doctor.
(2) Purchase reliable quality Chinese medicine. At present, the quality of Chinese medicine tablets varies from place to place and counterfeit and shoddy herbs are flooding the market, so caution is needed in purchasing medicine.
(3) Follow the scientific and correct decoction method and taking method. The decoction and taking of Chinese medicine requires different requirements according to the prescription and must be strictly operated, not to save time.
(4) Strictly abide by the contraindications of taking medicine during the period of taking medicine, including diet, exercise and rest.
(5) Do not exclude effective Western medical treatment, as Chinese and Western medical treatments for liver cancer do not conflict with each other, but rather complement each other, so you should not blindly exclude Western medical treatment even if you receive Chinese medicine treatment. According to the specific conditions of each individual, a reasonable combination of Chinese and Western medical treatments can achieve the best therapeutic effect.
Chinese traditional medicine is a great treasure trove, which is the beneficence left by our ancestors to our Chinese descendants. With the help of reasonable Chinese medicine treatment, the efficacy of liver cancer treatment can be significantly improved.