Over the past 30 years, various health organizations at home and abroad have been calling for the true nature of cancer to be revealed in order to facilitate the formation of a correct understanding of cancer. It is gratifying to see that the mystery of cancer has been gradually revealed and the perception of “cancer is only a chronic disease” has gradually become a consensus. According to statistics, it takes more than 30 years on average for a mutated cell to grow into a malignant tumor. In the early 1980s, the World Health Organization clearly put forward the idea of 3 “1/3”, that is, 1/3 of cancers can be prevented, 1/3 of cancers can be cured, and 1/3 of cancers can improve the quality of survival and prolong life, which gives great spiritual support to cancer patients and cancer prevention and treatment workers. The famous Chinese writer Ke Yan’s book “Cancer ≠ Death” in 1982 had stirred up a strong reaction among Chinese cancer patients, and the facts in the book were enough to encourage many people. Since the mid to late 1990s, “induction of cancer cell differentiation and apoptosis” has become a new and increasingly sought-after field. Like “problematic children”, cancer cells can be “rehabilitated” by certain methods. What an ideal new idea and countermeasure to fight against cancer! In June 2006, the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology announced that the total number of cancer deaths in the United States in 2005 showed a downward trend for the first time. In this year, the World Health Organization and other international organizations have redefined “cancer” as “a chronic disease that can be treated, controlled, or even cured”. According to a sample survey in the United States, the 15-year survival rate for breast cancer surgery without metastasis reached 87%; for those who had metastasis, the 15-year survival rate also reached 82%. Sun Yan, a senior domestic medical oncology authority, has pointed out clearly that more and more cancers in the future may be like diabetes, which is just a common and controllable chronic disease. As long as prevention is strengthened, early detection and early treatment, coupled with new drugs that are more and more accurate, cancer is not that terrible. The treatment mode of malignant tumor is comprehensive, complex and personalized, and the treatment means include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy and Chinese medicine. Among them, TCM plays an active and important role in tumor treatment, which has been gradually recognized by more and more patients and experts. Chinese herbal medicine and other treatment methods cannot beat cancer alone, but only combine with each other to play a better role and achieve the desired effect. Chinese herbal medicine has different characteristics in treating tumors in different stages, different conditions and different individual physical conditions. It is necessary for us to correctly understand and grasp the role and timing of TCM in tumor treatment. If possible, we should thoroughly investigate the diagnosis, especially cytological and pathological diagnosis, and make an integrated plan for surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy and TCM treatment, so as to formulate the most suitable individualized treatment plan for patients. Chinese medicine treatment in the perioperative period Many tumor patients need adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy after radical tumor surgery in order to be completely cured. The treatment of TCM during this period is very crucial and is where the advantages of TCM lie. Patients should recover their energy and strengthen their strength as soon as possible during this period, so that they can cope with adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy in a good condition. For example, after radical surgery for gastric cancer patients, many complications will occur. External use of Chinese herbal medicines for Qi and spleen can relieve postoperative symptoms such as abdominal distension and abdominal pain; internal use of Chinese herbal medicine Ginseng and Atractylodes can restore the patient’s appetite and digestive function as soon as possible; and addition of TCM Yi Qi Tang can not only promote the patient’s recovery of physical strength after surgery, but also improve the patient’s immunity and prevent the occurrence of postoperative osteoporosis in elderly patients. . The dialectical use of TCM during the perioperative period can play a role in carrying forward and backward. The specific treatment rules and prescriptions for TCM treatment during surgery for various tumors are different, but in principle, the main focus is on supporting and toning, avoiding the use of some bitter, cold and pungent products, and paying more attention to not rushing to use a large amount of anti-cancer toxic products, which may affect the patient’s physical recovery and thus hinder the completion of the whole treatment plan. Combination of Chinese medicine and radiotherapy Most tumor patients have to receive chemotherapy or radiotherapy, the purpose of which is to remove potential metastatic lesions in the body or to reduce the tumor cells that are increasing or spreading in the body, but radiotherapy also brings great pain to the patients. We have seen that many tumor patients give up or interrupt their treatment because of such painful adverse effects. In this regard, together with TCM treatment, it can be said that Chinese and Western medicine treatment can complement each other. For example, the author applied ginger diarrhea heart soup with reduction to prevent delayed diarrhea caused by chemotherapy drug Irinotecan; warming the meridians and opening the ligaments to treat chemotherapy peripheral neurotoxicity and hand-foot syndrome; benefiting qi and nourishing yin to prevent and treat radiation The treatment of pneumonia and esophagitis by the method of invigorating blood and generating muscle; and the treatment of oral mucositis by the method of invigorating blood and generating muscle have all achieved satisfactory clinical results. Many tumor patients, with the support of TCM, have finally completed effective treatments that they originally wanted to give up because of side effects. The scientific and standardized application of TCM combined with radiotherapy will bring twice the effect with half the effort. There is no basis for the suspicion that TCM will hinder the efficacy of radiotherapy. Of course, the treatment of Chinese herbal medicine is different according to the differences of patients’ physical constitution and the adverse effects of radiotherapy, as the so-called prescription of the right evidence, in order to achieve significant effect. Avoid using health care products that cure all diseases and be careful with the so-called anti-cancer miracle drugs. In recent years, with the update of modern medical understanding and concept of tumor treatment, the concept of “tumor maintenance therapy” has been put forward, which means that 1-2 chemotherapeutic drugs or targeted drugs with relatively light toxic side effects are used to maintain the tumor stability in the body by long-term and intermittent treatment during the period of tumor stabilization. The concept is to use 1-2 chemotherapeutic agents or targeted drugs to maintain the stable state of the tumor in the body during the stable period. This treatment method is consistent with the concept of “survival with tumor” long advocated by TCM. Since ancient times, Chinese medicine has been based on the treatment principle of “eliminating evil without harming the righteous and supporting the righteous without leaving the evil”, which means to organically combine anti-cancer (eliminating evil) and support the righteous, so that the human body can maintain a relatively long-term stable state with the tumor, called “living with the tumor”. Therefore, after a patient has completed a phase of radiotherapy, not only should he or she be treated with anti-cancer drugs for maintenance, but also the advantages of Chinese medicine in supporting the righteousness, so as to control the development of tumor in both local control and overall regulation of the patient’s body. Therefore, after or during radiotherapy, tumor patients can choose appropriate anti-cancer herbal medicines and herbal medicines to support the body, including Chinese patent medicines and tonics. Tumor has become a chronic disease in modern society, therefore, a long-term, systematic and planned treatment plan is needed, and the maintenance treatment of TCM will play an active role in the whole treatment. Integrating Chinese and Western medicine together to improve the quality of life A common misconception among tumor patients is that only when radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery do not help, they choose Chinese medicine to try. Therefore, most of the patients seen in TCM oncology clinics are very advanced tumor patients. There are many patients who will regret for losing the chance of surgery, but how many of them will regret for losing the treatment of TCM? The improvement of quality of life of tumor patients by TCM is actually throughout the whole diagnosis and treatment process of tumor patients. There is a concept called “palliative care” in modern medicine, which aims to improve the quality of life of tumor patients, and to actively focus on the quality of life from the initial treatment of tumor patients, “live well to live long”, which has been confirmed by modern oncology research. Traditional Chinese medicine is a kind of therapeutic medicine for evidence, which has its unique efficacy in improving the quality of life. Therefore, it is suggested that tumor patients should not choose TCM only when they are “desperate”, but should choose the most suitable time to intervene in the early stage of treatment, just like surgery and radiotherapy. It is a consensus in Chinese medicine that tumor patients should avoid eating shrimps, crabs and spicy foods while taking traditional Chinese medicine. However, the dietary choices are different for different patients and at different stages of treatment. For example, for post-operative patients with digestive tumors, it is advisable to eat barley, vegetable porridge, yogurt, stick bone soup and other easy-to-digest and nutritious diets; for patients undergoing radiotherapy, it is advisable to eat more fruits, vegetables and foods that nourish yin and promote body fluid, such as pear and lily. Many drugs can be consumed as food, and many foods also have similar properties and effects as drugs. For tumor patients, the selection of the taste of drugs is mainly based on the individual differences of the disease, and by the same token, the appropriate diet for different patients in different stages of the disease also varies from person to person and from time to time. In the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, there is a saying that “thick taste of sorghum is enough to produce a big ding”, which means that poor diet and abnormal diet are one of the factors that induce cancer. Therefore, it is recommended that the diet for cancer patients should be “coarse, light, mixed, little, rotten and vegetarian”. “Coarse” refers to coarse grains, mixed grains and coarse fiber foods; “light” refers to less high-fat and animal protein foods, natural and light fruits and vegetables, and proper control of salt intake (not more than 5 grams per person per day). “Miscellaneous” means that recipes should be miscellaneous and extensive, and as long as they are not clearly carcinogenic or not conducive to the prevention and recovery of certain cancers, they can be consumed. Patients with poor digestive function can eat less at each meal and add extra meals appropriately; “rotten” means that all food, except fresh fruits and vegetables, should be cooked well, especially for elderly cancer patients and patients during and after radiotherapy treatment, in order to facilitate digestion; “vegetarian” refers mostly to fresh vegetables and fruits, which are rich in nutrients. Vegetables and fruits, which are rich in vitamins, are beneficial to cancer prevention and recovery. For example, the occurrence of colon (rectal) cancer and pancreatic cancer is related to excessive fat intake, so the intake of animal fat should be controlled; some breast and ovarian cancers are often estrogen-dependent, so foods that may raise estrogen levels should be eaten sparingly, such as bee’s milk (royal jelly) and toad oil; patients with liver, gallbladder, pancreas and stomach cancers have poor digestive function and should not eat them. Stomach cancer patients have poor digestive function, so they should eat less high protein and high fat foods that are not easy to digest, and snapper and crab should be eaten with caution. Therefore, scientific and reasonable adjustment of dietary structure and formation of good dietary habits are the links that cannot be ignored in cancer recovery. In addition, Chinese medicine pays special attention to the influence of psychological factors in the process of tumor treatment. The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine says: “Clear your mind and cleanse your mind, and you will end your days with illness”. For a long time, we have been advocating group anti-cancer. We actively advocate that cancer patients should participate in various types of group anti-cancer organizations such as Minshengjia (of course, these organizations should be sunny and positive, internally coordinated and orderly, rather than contradictory and depressing), because the practical experience in the past 20 years clearly suggests to us that doing so will greatly benefit patients’ anti-cancer process and recovery process. According to the results of experimental animal studies reported by the British Daily Mail and others, which were recently cited by domestic scholar Feng Guochuan, it is confirmed that good interpersonal and social life has a clear effect on cancer prevention. Experiments on rats conducted by geneticist Professor Matthew have shown that if a person has contact with as many of his or her own kind as possible, their tumors will shrink significantly. This means that patients should be encouraged to meet and communicate more with their friends and family, and can take a group approach to fighting cancer. This includes communication by phone, email, etc. It is possible to accelerate their recovery process. The above findings by geneticist Prof. Matthew were published in the prestigious journal Cell. Professor Matthew believes the study provides new evidence for the cancer-protective role of socialization and personal state of mind. He said, “Communication between animals and their social environment inhibits tumor growth. It’s greatly beyond the average person’s imagination.” Rats are a naturally group-living animal. In experiments in which researchers housed groups of five together and provided ample food and toys, signs that helped cancer recovery could occur. Further, if rats with tumors were placed in an “extended family” of 15 or 20 rats and given plenty of space, food and toys, the tumors they had quickly went through a natural healing process. After one month, the tumor mass was tested to have shrunk by 77% and the tumor size was reduced by 43%. Moreover, about 1/20 of the rats with cancer showed no tendency to deteriorate within 3 weeks of moving into their new home; in contrast, this did not occur in rats living in crowded and separate rooms. How surprising is this finding! In response to this phenomenon, Professor Dulin of Ohio State University pointed out that social activity and its abundance in the survival environment is one of the keys to cancer recovery; animals that focused only on physical exercise did not receive the same effect. The study further found that rats with shrinking masses that participated in rich group life had corresponding changes in body fat production of leptin (leptin/Leptin is a peptide hormone secreted by adipocytes, which is likely to enter the circulation and participate in the regulation of sugar, fat and energy metabolism, prompting the body to reduce food intake, increase energy release and inhibit adipocyte synthesis, which in turn leads to weight loss) . This suggests that living in a group can lead to beneficial changes in the metabolism of cancer patients. In addition, by tracking the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the brains of the animals, the researchers found that the immune capacity of rats participating in enriched group life appeared to be correspondingly enhanced. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has some anti-cancer effects, and its secretion can be promoted by moderate physical exercise. However, for people who lack BDNF, the benefits of social activity come to the fore. Professor Dulin said, “Many people think that stress in group life is bad, but our data suggest that rats can do more than simply become happy, which is a healing effect that antidepressants don’t have.” In fact, some rats have higher levels of stress-related glucocorticoids. According to Professor Dulin, “Our main goal is not to reduce stress, but to allow the rats to lead an enriched life.” This research could eventually provide new ideas for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Whether it is changing the patient’s living environment, strengthening social ties or reducing negative emotions with the help of medication, it is an approach that could be explored. Professor Dulin said, “People can’t look at cancer in isolation. For so many years, doctors have only been good at treating cancer with surgery and radiotherapy, but have rarely addressed aspects such as lifestyle. If we consider patients in the context of their environment and social interactions, then we will find out what can have a real impact on the effectiveness of cancer treatment. There is no reason for people to suspect that our research is not general.” All the more reason for us to actively urge patients and their families to take action as soon as possible and actively engage in the group fight against cancer, in which you will not only be able to enjoy the joy of group interaction and sweep away the depression and fear of loneliness; but also, be able to strengthen your body, improve your eating and sleeping, and live a more enjoyable life; and more importantly, it has anti-cancer effects! It is not just play, can help you break free from the chains of disease; little mice do not lie! And what’s more, it’s our original, don’t-consume (i.e.: no need to spend money)! What’s not to like? Friends, act fast! Finally, I hope that tumor patients and their families can have a scientific understanding of TCM, not to throw themselves at random, not to mention messing up their mindset, and to choose TCM in a timely and reasonable manner for the recovery of tumors. Let tumor patients have a better tomorrow.