In recent years, the incidence of thyroid tumor has increased significantly, especially in coastal areas, the incidence rate has increased 4 to 5 places compared to 10 years ago, and the number of incidence is 4 times of that 10 years ago. The age of onset of thyroid cancer is mainly young adults between 20 and 40 years old, more women than men, and the incidence rate is about three times that of men. There are no obvious symptoms in the early stage of the disease, so it is not easy for patients to detect it early, and even if a lump appears, it is often mistaken for other diseases and treatment is delayed. Thyroid cancer is a malignant tumor, if not detected early, it will be a time bomb buried in the neck and will endanger the patient’s life. Chinese medicine has its own characteristics and advantages in the treatment of thyroid tumors, although it is not strong in eliminating local lesions and destroying cancer cells. Chinese medicine’s understanding of thyroid tumors Thyroid tumors belong to the category of “gall tumor” in Chinese medicine. The ancients have observed that the occurrence of this disease is closely related to the regional environment, and have proposed the classification of five galls: stone gall, gas gall, labor gall, earth gall, and worry gall. Thyroid tumors are similar to stone galls in that they present with symptoms such as a gradually increasing mass in front of the neck, painful swelling, breathing and swallowing discomfort, coughing and phlegm, chest tightness, and irritability. These symptoms are similar to the symptoms of “liver depression and qi stagnation, phlegm and blood stasis” as described by Chinese medicine. The patient’s chronic anger and irritation or depression causes liver qi stagnation, qi stagnation and blood stasis; internal stagnation of fluids and phlegm, and the stagnation of qi, blood, phlegm and drinks, resulting in galls and swellings, which can become malignant over time. Qi stagnation, phlegm coagulation, and blood stasis are the basic pathology of gall formation in the front of the neck. In the late stage, some patients also show pathological changes of phlegm and gas stagnation, which turn into fire, and appear as deficiency in reality and deficiency in reality. The role of Chinese medicine in the treatment of thyroid tumor 1, emphasizing overall conditioning and prevention of precancerous lesions According to Chinese medicine, this disease is closely related to internal injury of emotion, diet and water and soil, as well as physical factors. Stress leads to overworked body deficiency thus causing a decrease in immune function, endocrine disorders, metabolic disorders in the body, resulting in the deposition of acid in the body; stress can also lead to mental tension causing qi stagnation and blood stagnation, internal trapping of toxic fire, etc. Chinese medicine believes that the mental state of a person is closely related to the organism’s internal organs and qi and blood, and the emotional and mental activities of a person are closely related to the function of the heart to hide the gods. Patients who have a good state of mind to cope with stress, combine work and rest, are full of energy and cheerful, generally have better results, while the opposite is worse. Patients with goiter need to have proper dietary regimen and pay attention to dietary contraindications. Generally, they should eat nutritious food and fresh vegetables, and avoid fatty foods. For example, foods that have the effect of eliminating nodules and dispersing swelling, including taro, cichlid mushrooms, rice kernel, rhizome, etc.; foods that enhance immunity, such as shiitake mushrooms, wood ear, yam, red dates, etc. At the same time, patients should avoid smoking, alcohol, spicy and stimulating foods such as garlic, pepper, chili, cinnamon, etc., greasy and fried foods, etc. 2.Promote early recovery after surgery Surgery is an important means of treating thyroid tumor. For thyroid tumor patients who have the chance of surgery, they must have surgery to remove the tumor, which can achieve the effect of radical cure. However, because thyroid tumor is often infiltrative or diffuse growth with unclear boundary, it makes radical surgery more difficult. There are also patients who have undergone radical surgery, but the disease recurred and metastasized due to improper postoperative conditioning, excessive fatigue and low immunity. In addition to promoting the healing of surgical wounds, the recovery of the body and the improvement of immune function, post-operative Chinese medicine conditioning can prevent the recurrence of metastasis after surgery. After surgery, the tumor has been mostly removed, but the vital energy is damaged and the internal organs are weak. At this time, Chinese medicine treatment should start from cultivating the vital energy and consolidating the root, combined with herbal medicines that clear heat and detoxify, support and fight cancer, and promote the flow of Qi and blood. 3.Reducing the symptoms of long-term endocrine therapy Post-operative thyroid tumor patients generally need long-term oral endocrine therapy with thyroxine tablets. Because thyroid cancer cells express TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) receptors on the surface, they respond to TSH stimulation and cell growth rate increases. The use of higher than physiological dose of thyroxine tablets – levothyroxine sodium (Euthyroxine) can inhibit TSH secretion, inhibit the growth of thyroid cancer cells and reduce the risk of recurrence. However, it is difficult to control the dose of thyroxine tablets, as higher doses may cause side effects such as palpitations, excessive sweating and agitation, while lower doses may cause symptoms of “hypothyroidism”. Through the specialist’s Chinese medicine treatment, the patient’s immune function and endocrine function can be regulated to promote the body’s recovery and reduce the toxic side effects of the drug. According to current clinical treatment guidelines, most thyroid tumors should be treated with iodine-131 after complete removal of the thyroid gland. Using the high affinity between iodine-131 and thyroid tissue, radioactive iodine-131 can play a role in internal radiotherapy of the residual thyroid tissue and “burn” the thyroid cells. Iodine-131 has a high degree of targeting and few side effects in the treatment of thyroid tumors. On one hand, it can eliminate residual thyroid tissue from surgery and reduce recurrence and metastasis; on the other hand, whole-body iodine-131 scan after iodine-131 treatment can detect new metastases that cannot be found by surgery or other imaging examinations, and can monitor the tumor for recurrence and metastasis. Internal radiotherapy can also produce various toxic side effects on the human organism, such as causing local mucosal damage, bone marrow suppression and leukocytopenia, leading to a decrease in the patient’s quality of life. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the damage caused by radiotherapy is mostly identified as “heat and toxicity accumulation, qi and yin injury”. For these side effects after radiotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine can effectively reduce the toxic side effects of radiotherapy by nourishing yin and clearing heat, strengthening spleen and benefiting kidney, which can help the body recover after radiotherapy. 5. Chinese medicine palliative treatment for advanced thyroid tumor patients For advanced thyroid tumor patients who are inoperable and whose iodine-131 internal radiotherapy is ineffective, at this time, the focus of Chinese medicine palliative treatment is not on the size of the tumor, but on the improvement of symptoms in order to improve the quality of life of advanced patients. If the patient has restricted movement and hardness of the anterior neck mass, chest tightness, breathlessness, irritability, headache and dizziness, and purple and dull tongue, most of the patients are identified as “qi stagnation and blood stasis” in TCM, and the treatment method is to “regulate qi, resolve phlegm, disperse stasis and break up knots”. “If the patient has cough with phlegm, scrofula, grayish tongue and thick and greasy coating, it is a case of “phlegm condensation and toxin gathering” in Chinese medicine, and the treatment is to “resolve phlegm and soften hardness, eliminate gall and detoxify”. If the patient coughs and vomits yellow phlegm, has hoarseness, coughs and wheezes with red face, red and vivid tongue and yellow tongue coating, this is a case of “liver stagnation and fire” in Chinese medicine, with “draining the liver and Qi, clearing heat and detoxifying the toxin” as the main treatment. “For patients with recurrence after surgery and radiotherapy, who have palpitations, shortness of breath, fever, dry mouth, fatigue, spontaneous sweating, dizziness, depression, and lack of food, add prunus ginseng, huangjing, smallpox powder, maitong, wuwei zi, dried lotus root, saxifrage, saxifrage, saxifrage, saxifrage, and saxifrage. Radix et Rhizoma Polygoni, Radix Salviae Sinensis, Radix et Rhizoma Polygoni, Radix et Rhizoma Polygoni and Radix et Rhizoma Polygoni to nourish Yin and clear heat. There are many Chinese medicines commonly used in the treatment of thyroid tumor, which can not only effectively kill thyroid cancer cells, but also repair the normal body function of thyroid tumor patients, which is conducive to improving the treatment effect and prognosis, no longer just treating the tumor. Therefore, TCM treatment should accompany the whole period of preoperative and postoperative, radiotherapy and palliative treatment of thyroid tumor treatment. While receiving standardized western medical treatment, choose Chinese medicine oncologist in regular hospital to let Chinese medicine take the field when it should, in order to add to the thyroid tumor treatment.