The origins of Chinese and Western medicine are basically the same, but they have undergone different development processes. Chinese medicine emphasizes the macroscopic whole and relies more on the experience of practitioners, while Western medicine pays more attention to the microscopic details and relies more and more on equipments and technologies. The combination of Chinese and Western medicine is a characteristic of China. This mode pays attention to the diagnosis of tumors by Western medicine as well as the characteristics of dialectical treatment of Chinese medicine; pays attention to the combination of the whole and the local, and takes into account the relationship between the patient and the tumor, which makes the diagnosis more perfect and objective, and makes the treatment plan more comprehensive and reasonable. In different stages of tumor and different phases of tumor treatment, the combination of the two can complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses, enhance the therapeutic effect and reduce the toxic side effects. The combination of Chinese and Western medicines is beneficial to the early diagnosis of tumors The diagnosis of tumors in modern medicine can be said to be advancing by leaps and bounds, with ultrasound, CT, MRI, and positron emission computed tomography (PET) greatly improving the diagnosis rate, but it is not possible to accurately discover the tiny cancers (less than 1cm). According to Chinese medicine, there is a long process before the formation of tumor. On the basis of deficiency of positive qi and weakness of internal organs, external evils fight with internal pathological products, stagnation of qi and blood stasis, and toxicity and phlegm accumulation, which become accumulation in a long period of time. Therefore, at this stage, the body already has different degrees of imbalance, and Chinese medicine can help in the early detection of tumor through the diagnostic means of observation, smelling, questioning and cutting, such as tongue diagnosis, palate and mucous membrane diagnosis, eye diagnosis, lip diagnosis, auricular diagnosis, pulse diagnosis and meridian diagnosis combined with the history of disease and family history. 2. Combination of Chinese and western medicine to prevent precancerous lesions Chinese medicine emphasizes on “treating the disease before it is diagnosed”, that is, the prevention of tumors. Many tumors have precancerous lesions, such as esophageal epithelial cell hyperplasia and esophageal cancer; chronic atrophic gastritis (intestinal) and gastric cancer; leukoplakia and skin cancer; cervicitis and cervical cancer. All have a large amount of information to confirm that there is an intrinsic connection between them. Effective treatment of precancerous lesions to prevent them from becoming cancerous is an important part of prevention. It has been found that the Chinese medicines can improve the immune function of the body and have a protective effect on the chromosomes, preventing them from being damaged or easy to be repaired after being damaged, thus preventing the occurrence of tumors. For example, a 5-year epidemiological survey completed in Korea found that regular use of the Chinese medicine ginseng can reduce the incidence of tumors. In the last century, a preventive study was conducted in Shanghai, hepatitis B patients with persistent low-fetoprotein elevation were given 2 years of herbal medicine to strengthen the spleen and regulate the qi for prevention, and the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma was significantly reduced as a result. Combination of Chinese and Western medicines to improve curative effect and reduce toxic and side reactions 3.1 Application of Chinese medicine in perioperative period After radical tumor surgery, many tumor patients need to undergo adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy in order to be cured completely. During this period, the treatment of TCM is very crucial, which is also where the advantages of TCM lie. During this period, patients have to recover energy and enhance physical strength as soon as possible, so that they can cope with adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy in good condition. For example, after radical surgery for gastric cancer, many complications will occur, external use of qi regulating and spleen strengthening traditional Chinese medicine can relieve abdominal distension, abdominal pain and other symptoms after surgery; internal use of Chinese medicine Ginseng Ling Baijusan plus and minus can restore patient’s appetite and digestive function as soon as possible; and tonifying the middle and benefiting the qi soup plus and minus can not only promote the recovery of patient’s physical strength after surgery, but also improve the patient’s immune system. The dialectical use of TCM during the perioperative period can play the role of carrying forward and starting back. The specific treatment rules and prescriptions of Chinese medicine treatment during surgery for different tumors are different, but in principle, focusing on correcting and regulating, and benefiting qi and consolidating the surface, replenishing qi and nourishing blood with traditional Chinese medicines can promote the early recovery of injuries caused by surgery and accelerate immune reconstruction, so that postoperative adjuvant treatment can be carried out as scheduled. Avoid the use of bitter, cold and pungent products, and pay more attention to the fact that a large number of anti-cancer toxic products cannot be used hastily, which may affect the physical recovery of the patients, and then hinder the completion of the whole treatment plan. (2) Application of traditional Chinese medicine in radiotherapy Radiotherapy directly kills tumor cells and damages normal tissue cells at the same time, and many tumor patients give up or interrupt the treatment because they cannot tolerate the adverse reactions. Many tumor patients give up or interrupt the treatment because they cannot tolerate the adverse effects. In this regard, the use of traditional Chinese medicine can reduce the toxicity and increase the effect of the treatment. For example, after radiotherapy for head and neck tumors, oral glands will be damaged and their secretion function will be impaired, and dry mouth, dry tongue, sore throat and other symptoms will appear, and the application of yin-supporting and heat-cleansing medicines can alleviate the above symptoms. Clinically, we can also apply the method of nourishing qi and yin to prevent and treat radiation pneumonia and esophagitis, and the method of activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis to prevent and treat pulmonary fibrosis that occurs in the late stage of radiation pneumonia. In addition, qi and blood-activating traditional Chinese medicines also have a sensitizing effect on radiotherapy. These traditional Chinese medicines can improve blood circulation around the tumor, increase the local oxygen supply to the tumor, and reduce the anaerobic cells (a group of cells resistant to radiotherapy), so as to achieve the sensitizing effect of radiotherapy. (3) Application during chemotherapy Chinese medicine believes that chemotherapeutic drugs damage the body’s qi, blood and fluid, resulting in dysfunction of the five viscera and six bowels. Combined Chinese medicine treatment during chemotherapy can not only improve various symptoms caused by chemotherapy, such as fatigue, sweating, loss of appetite, etc., such as the application of traditional Chinese medicine to strengthen the spleen and stomach, replenish qi and nourish blood, etc., can reduce and improve the digestive reaction and bone marrow suppression, and promote the reconstruction of bone marrow and immune function, so that the patient can complete the cycle of chemotherapy, but also to solve the problem of some of the chemotherapy complications that are still not solved by the modern medical science, such as the application of It can also solve the problems of some chemotherapy complications which cannot be solved by modern medicine, such as applying the method of warming the meridians and collaterals to treat the peripheral neurotoxicity and hand-foot syndrome caused by chemotherapy; and the method of activating the blood and generating the muscle to treat the oral mucositis. 4. The role of Chinese medicine in maintenance treatment Since ancient times, Chinese medicine has the therapeutic principle of “eliminating the evil without hurting the positive, supporting the positive without leaving the evil behind”, and it is also necessary to organically combine anticancer (eliminating the evil) with supporting the positive in the process of tumor treatment, especially for patients with tumors that cannot be surgically resected, after the completion of the established cycle of chemotherapy, the modern medical science applies anticancer drugs to certain tumors to maintain the treatment. After completing the established chemotherapy cycle, modern medicine applies anti-cancer drugs to certain tumors for maintenance treatment to achieve the purpose of long-term survival with tumor. However, most of the tumors do not have clear and effective chemotherapeutic agents for maintenance therapy, and the few chemotherapeutic agents that are clearly effective also have obvious toxic side effects. Therefore, at this stage, the application of traditional Chinese medicine can control the development of the tumor from the local control of the tumor and the overall regulation of the patient’s body to achieve the goal of coexisting with the tumor, which can fully reflect the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine of “eliminating the evil without hurting the positive and supporting the positive without leaving the evil behind”. Tumor has become a chronic disease in modern society, which requires long-term, systematic and planned treatment plan. Chinese medicine treatment, which runs through the whole process of diagnosis and treatment of tumor patients, can not only improve the therapeutic effect of surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy and reduce their side effects, but also enhance the function of the body, improve immunity and prevent recurrence and metastasis. How to grasp the reasonable application of traditional Chinese medicine is an important part of curing tumors, and Chinese and western medical treatment complement each other, which will surely enable tumor patients to live better and longer.