Chinese medicine is the treasure of Chinese nation and is increasingly used in tumor treatment, but many patients and even some medical personnel still have many misconceptions about Chinese medicine for tumor treatment. In fact, TCM has its unique advantages and characteristics in the treatment of tumors, and can be involved in the whole process of tumor treatment, but it should be guided by TCM theory, and under the guidance of TCM oncologist, TCM should be used reasonably to avoid misunderstandings in the use of TCM, so as to better play the role of TCM in tumor treatment. Myth 1: Exaggerating the efficacy of TCM Some tumor patients or their families go to believe in certain Chinese medicine prescriptions or a certain TCM doctor can cure tumor because they worry about the risk of surgery and fear the adverse reaction of radiotherapy, they refuse western medicine treatment and demand pure TCM treatment. In fact, for tumor, 1/3 can be prevented, 1/3 can be cured, 1/3 can be stabilized by treatment to prolong life, but there are few tumor patients cured by pure Chinese medicine. Tumor is a very complex disease, and no single treatment can completely cure tumor. The treatment of tumor is based on the integrated application of multiple disciplines, and according to the patient’s physical and mental condition, as well as the location, pathological type, invasion range (disease stage) and development trend of tumor, combined with the changes of cell biology, the existing multidisciplinary effective treatments can be applied in a planned and reasonable manner, and the best treatment effect can be achieved with the most appropriate cost. The best therapeutic effect can be achieved with the most appropriate cost, and at the same time, the quality of life of patients can be improved to the maximum. Therefore, the best therapeutic effect can only be achieved through the scientific and rational application of various treatment methods such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy according to different stages of tumors. Chinese medicine treatment for tumor can stabilize the lesions, improve the symptoms, reduce the pain, improve the quality of survival and prolong the survival period of patients. However, the control of tumor lesions is not the advantage of TCM. Myth 2: Chinese medicine is ineffective Some people think that Chinese medicine is ineffective and the disease will still progress, so it is the same whether to eat or not. In fact, for patients who suffer from the adverse effects of radiotherapy or those who are weak after surgery, Chinese medicine is very suitable for treatment and conditioning. The advantage of Chinese medicine is that in combination with radiotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy, it can reduce the adverse effects of radiotherapy and enhance the therapeutic effect of radiotherapy, which is called “reducing toxicity and increasing effectiveness”. For patients recovering from surgery or radiotherapy, long-term adherence to Chinese medicine can stabilize the disease, consolidate the therapeutic effect, reduce recurrence and metastasis, and improve long-term efficacy. At the same time, TCM also has a better role in the prevention and treatment of certain precancerous lesions. It can be seen that TCM can participate in all stages of tumor prevention and treatment and play an active role in them. In clinical work, we can often see some cases of tumor patients who believe in biased prescriptions, which not only delay the disease, but also lose the opportunity of early treatment. As we all know, medicine is poisonous in three parts. Some toxic Chinese medicines, such as scorpion, centipede, spotted cypress, strychnine, and spermaceti, or medicines that are harmful to liver and kidney functions, such as yellow medicinal seed, aristolochia, and thunderbolt, need to be reviewed regularly to avoid toxic side effects. Chinese medicine prescriptions are very important to match and counter-adjuvant to slow down the toxic side effects of drugs, and patients also need to follow up with a specialist regularly to adjust the prescription. Therefore, for the so-called “famous doctors” to prescribe those “panacea” of unknown ingredients, must be vigilant to prevent drug poisoning or deception. Misconception 4: Abuse of proprietary Chinese medicines There are many different dosage forms of proprietary Chinese medicines approved by the state for tumor treatment, such as capsules, tablets, oral liquid, injection and topical medicine. What should not be overlooked is that the phenomenon of unreasonable application of anti-tumor proprietary Chinese medicines is also increasing. In clinical practice, there are many matters that need attention in the standardized use of proprietary Chinese medicines, which should be selected according to the theory of TCM, indications of proprietary Chinese medicines, clinical research literature and experience, and preferably under the guidance of TCM oncologists in order to play a better therapeutic effect and avoid abuse and misuse, resulting in adverse consequences. If a relative or friend has malignant tumor, people think that the most important thing is to take a tonic, and they often believe that the expensive one is good. In fact, Chinese medicine should differentiate the deficiency of Qi, blood, Yin and Yang according to different body types before using the tonic. For example, ginseng, which is slightly warm in nature, is a great tonic for vital energy, strengthens the spleen and benefits the lungs, and is more suitable for people with qi deficiency; for people with low white blood cells after chemotherapy, wolfberry, red dates, aconite and shouwu are the most suitable, which are cheap and effective; and many people advocate cordyceps, which is expensive, tonifies the kidneys and benefits the lungs, and is suitable for lung cancer patients, but the medicine is calm and the amount is small, so it is difficult to show the curative effect. In short, tonic medicine is not expensive, but suitable. Misconception 6: Excessive taboo Everyone knows that Chinese medicine is very much about “taboo”, but taboo is not as simple as people think. Chinese medicine has different dietary contraindications according to people’s physique, disease characteristics, disease period and season. For tumor patients, excessive taboos are not advocated. From traditional experience, the main taboos for tumor patients are chicken, goose, sea shrimp, crab, mutton, dog, scallop, yellow fish, bee milk, royal jelly, clam film oil, chili pepper, tobacco and alcohol. Other than that, all other foods can be taken in general, and there is no need to avoid too much. Of course, surgical patients or those with serious conditions should strictly follow medical advice.