Clinical thinking and experience in treating advanced breast cancer

  Abstract: Prof. Liu is good at treating various breast diseases. This article discusses the clinical thinking and experience of Prof. Liu in treating advanced breast cancer with the guiding principle of “prevention before illness and prevention after illness” and the main method of “dispersing nodes and detoxification”.  For more than ten years, he has devoted himself to clinical and scientific research on the prevention and treatment of breast diseases in Chinese medicine, and has made great achievements. In treating patients with advanced breast cancer, Liu starts from a “holistic concept” and is guided by the idea of “treating the disease before it happens”, emphasizing the application of the “dispersing and detoxifying” method and focusing on “The treatment is very effective. The author often learns from his teacher and gains a lot.  1. The purpose of clinical treatment is clear The incidence of breast cancer is increasing year by year, and now it has jumped to the first place of female malignant tumors. Although the diagnosis and treatment level of breast cancer has been greatly improved, post-operative recurrence and metastasis of breast cancer are still common and often endanger patients’ lives, which has become a serious problem for patients and medical workers. According to Dr. Liu, advanced breast cancer is a systemic disease and should be treated in a comprehensive way, and in the comprehensive treatment system of advanced breast cancer, Chinese medicine treatment should not be neglected. Chinese medicine treatment should be based on a holistic concept, combining disease identification with evidence identification, supporting the positive with eliminating the evil, adjusting the patient’s immune function, inhibiting the growth of tumor cells, taking both the symptoms and the root cause into account, and emphasizing personalized treatment to achieve the goal of improving clinical symptoms, improving the quality of survival and ultimately prolonging the patient’s survival.  2. Dispersing and detoxifying method throughout Liu Shi believes that the recurrence and metastasis of breast cancer, the remaining toxins are not yet exhausted and the evil toxins are running around is its core pathological mechanism, the internal deficiency of positive energy is its internal cause, and the imbalance of punching is its important factor. In the treatment of advanced breast cancer patients, the treatment should not neglect the elimination of evil while emphasizing the support of the righteousness, and the treatment should always be based on the method of dispersion and detoxification, so that the evil will be eliminated and the toxin will be cleared and the body will be safe. It is said that a large dose can be used to correct the evil poison. The clinical use of snake six valley, snake tongue grass, half branch of the lotus, Long Qi, etc. to clear heat and detoxification, centipede, curcuma, system of South Star, mushrooms, etc. to invigorate the blood and disperse the knots. Modern pharmacological research has confirmed that these drugs have the strongest anti-cancer activity and have obvious direct or indirect effects of inhibiting and killing cancer cells, as well as controlling and clearing inflammation and edema in and around tumors, reducing pain and other related symptoms, and controlling further development of tumors.  3.Preventing the disease before it happens and preventing the metastasis after breast cancer surgery is a key factor affecting the prognosis of patients, how to control its metastasis and how to control the further occurrence of multiple metastases in patients who have already had one metastasis is a hot spot for medical research. According to Liu, the idea of “prevention before disease and prevention after disease” has an important guiding role in the prevention and control of tumor metastasis. In the book “The Essentials of the Golden Horoscope”, it is said, “When you see liver disease, you know that the liver transmits the spleen, so you should first strengthen the spleen.” It is a characteristic of Chinese medicine to target the organs that are about to metastasize or to prevent metastasis. The lung is a delicate organ, which is not resistant to heat and cold, and is easily invaded by evil; depression is common in breast cancer patients, and the qi is depressed for a long time. The kidney is the master of bone and marrow production, so the evil toxin travels with the meridians and blood to invade the marrow and reach the bone. After the above possible mechanisms of metastasis are clear, we can prevent and control metastasis in a targeted manner by “firstly, stabilizing the place where the evil has not been received”, adopting the treatment methods of nourishing Yin and moistening the lung, draining the liver and invigorating blood, and tonifying the kidney and strengthening the bone. To “cut off and reverse”.  4. Accurate identification and flexible medication According to Master Liu, although the same patient has advanced breast cancer, there are still differences in metastatic sites and individual manifestations, which need to be identified and treated, and the medication should not be confined. For example, in the case of localized skin, chest wall and lymph node metastasis, it is mostly due to phlegm, stasis and toxic nodules, so the medicine of blood activation and detoxification is often used, such as Shijiazhuang, Shengnanxing, Curcuma longa, Hibiscus, Half-branch lotus and Cichlidium. This is due to damp-heat blockage, so add products to clear the liver and remove dampness, detoxify and eliminate stasis, such as Artemisia indica, Gardenia jasminoides, Phyllostachys, Xia Gu Cao Cao, and Qi Ye Yi Zhi Hua, etc. Bone metastasis causes continuous pain in the affected bones, with hard bone swelling and unbearable pain at night. The pain is caused by the internal attack of poisonous evil into the bone and the loss of liver and kidney.  In advanced breast cancer patients, it is not uncommon to find those who are depressed, emotionally anxious, addicted to fear or pain, which is also an important factor of treatment failure after metastasis and cannot be ignored clinically. Therefore, while dispensing the prescriptions and medications, Dr. Liu does not forget the psychological treatment of patients and often gives patient explanation and counseling to make them have a correct understanding of the disease, strengthen their beliefs and inspire their confidence, so as to mobilize their own immunity and actively cooperate with the treatment. The patient is also instructed to pay attention to daily life conditioning, to maintain a relaxed mood, to live in moderation, to combine work and rest, to maintain the stability of the body’s internal environment, and to improve the quality of life.  The patient underwent modified radical surgery for left breast cancer in January 2003, postoperative pathology report: invasive ductal carcinoma, axillary lymph nodes 3/11 (+), ER (+), PR (-), postoperative chemotherapy with CEF regimen for 6 times and triamcinolone. In March 2008, the lung CT suggested slightly enlarged metastatic nodules in both lower lungs and enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. He had a dry mouth, fatigue, fatigue, nausea, belching, occasional choking and coughing, difficulty sleeping at night, sometimes hot and sweaty, dry stools, 1 time/day, little moss, reddish texture, thin pulse. The diagnosis is postoperative lung metastasis from breast cancer. The evidence belongs to postoperative deficiency of both Qi and Yin, deregulation of the flushing and the lingering toxin. Prescription: Radix Codonopsis Pilosulae 12g, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae 9g, Poria 12g, Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae 15g, Fructus Lycii 15g, Radix Rehmanniae 12, Rhizoma Polygonati 12g, Rhizoma Cistanches 12g, Cornu Cervi Pantotrichum 12g, Radix Spleen 30g, Rhizoma Polygonati 30g, Rhizoma Beechwood 12g, Rhizoma Curcumae 30g, Rhizoma Conchae 30g, Rhizoma Niubizi 30, Rhizoma Serrulatae 60, Rhizoma Polygonati 30, Rhizoma Polygonati 30, Rhizoma Polygonati 15, Rhizoma Sulforaphus 12, Rhizoma Corrugatae 15, Rhizoma Corrugatae 30. The above plus reduction, pay attention to moisten the lung and detoxify the liver, disperse nodules, take 2 weeks after the dry mouth, fatigue, {heat sweating significantly improved, choking cough is also not obvious, adhere to the medicine, the grain gradually Xin, sleep well at night, bowel movement. Six months later, the lung CT was rechecked and showed that the metastatic nodules in both lower lungs were slightly smaller than before, and the patient was full of energy and resumed normal work.