Guiding principles of TCM treatment for advanced breast cancer

  In Chinese medicine, breast cancer is classified as “breast rock”. From the perspective of TCM, breast cancer is an internal growth of cancer toxins, and the core pathogenesis of breast cancer is the movement of evil toxins. Therefore, the primary deficiency of breast cancer lies in the liver, spleen and kidney, especially the deficiency of liver and kidney is the main cause; the symptomatic deficiency of breast cancer lies in qi stagnation, blood stasis and phlegm turbidity.      Breast cancer can be clinically divided into three types: firstly, locally advanced, secondly, local or regional recurrence, and thirdly, with distant metastasis. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endocrine therapy, targeted therapy and TCM are the main treatments for breast cancer today, and the treatment strategy for breast cancer is to adopt a targeted and comprehensive treatment. The current western medical treatment has good therapeutic effect when breast cancer is localized, and its therapeutic effect decreases significantly once distant recurrence and metastasis occur. For some patients who are not suitable for western medical treatment due to their condition or other systemic diseases, or who cannot afford to complete the corresponding western medical treatment, the comprehensive treatment of TCM can not only relieve local pain, but also have obvious effects on controlling the progress of the disease.  Traditional Chinese medicine is based on evidence-based treatment, combining support for the positive and elimination of the evil, with support for the positive and cultivation of the root as the mainstay and elimination of the evil and anti-cancer as the supplement. The advantage is that it can inhibit the growth of tumor cells from a holistic perspective, improve symptoms, enhance the quality of patients’ survival and prolong their survival period. In addition, Dr. Lu believes that different treatments should be used at different stages of the disease and for different physical conditions of the patients. For the pathological characteristics of advanced breast cancer and different periods of disease development, a combination of treatment methods such as strengthening the spleen and tonifying the kidneys, benefiting qi and nourishing blood, draining liver and qi, activating blood stasis, resolving phlegm and dispersing nodules are used. The treatment of breast cancer is based on the principle of helping the righteousness and eliminating the evil, and helping the body to protect the righteousness throughout the whole treatment process. We should also pay attention to the elimination of evil on the basis of helping the positive, and only when the evil is gone can the positive be safe. After surgery and radiotherapy, patients are often weak and have a deficiency of qi and yin in the whole body. At this time, we should focus on helping the righteous to recover the weak body as soon as possible. After the patient’s physical strength gradually returns to normal, anti-tumor drugs should be added in a targeted manner according to the patient’s metastatic situation and site to achieve the purpose of attacking the toxin. During this period, we should pay attention to regular examination of the relevant parts of the patient to understand the control of the disease, and we should not forget to review the liver and kidney function regularly to avoid liver and kidney damage. When the disease of distant metastasis gradually stabilizes, the combination of supporting the positive and eliminating the evil should be favored to prolong the disease-free survival time and improve the quality of life.  The first one can regulate the immune function of the body, improve the immune status and the resistance of the body to external malignant stimuli, and help eliminate or control recurrence of metastasis; the second one can adjust the regulation function of the body’s nerves, endocrine and body fluids, maintain the stability of the body’s internal environment and the relative balance inside and outside the body; the third one can protect the bone marrow and adrenal cortex function, improve the blood picture, reduce the toxicity and increase the effectiveness of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, improve the Fourthly, it has direct anti-mutation, anti-cancer and anti-cancer effects; fifthly, it can improve the effect of surgery, improve physical fitness, promote recovery, improve survival quality and prolong survival period; sixthly, it can treat pre-cancerous lesions.