Is traditional Chinese medicine really effective in preventing and treating lung cancer?

Author: Gaoyuan, Professor of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Reviewer: Liu Chunying, Professor of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

"Doctor, my father has been treated for lung cancer for a while. He has undergone surgery and chemotherapy. What other treatments are there next?"

"Doctor, my mother is old. She has been doing chemotherapy for a long time and now she looks very weak. Is there any other way to make her feel better?"

"Doctor, we are worried that the young people in our family may inherit this disease. Is there any way to prevent it in advance?"

"Doctor, does our hospital have any traditional Chinese medicine that can alleviate the symptoms of lung cancer?"

As you can see, this is a common conversation in the hospital, and it is also some of the questions that people are often curious about when facing lung cancer.

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Lung cancer is one of the most commonly heard malignant tumors. In daily life, people are very afraid of the word "cancer" and are very concerned about the effective treatment of lung cancer.

With the development of medicine and the increasing popularity of TCM knowledge, in addition to chemotherapy, radiotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and surgical resection, TCM treatments are gaining widespread attention and application. So, is TCM treatment useful for lung cancer? And what effect will it have in the prevention and treatment of lung cancer at different stages? Let's take a look at the role of TCM in the prevention and treatment of lung cancer!

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Lung cancer belongs to the category of lung accumulation and lung congestion in traditional Chinese medicine. The main clinical manifestations are cough, hemoptysis, chest pain or sputum. The history of traditional Chinese medicine in treating lung cancer is long, which can be traced back to the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine. After thousands of years of development, its treatment experience has been greatly accumulated and enriched.

Prevention of lung cancer

The first thing TCM should do in preventing and treating lung cancer is "prevention". TCM believes that lung cancer is a syndrome of "root deficiency and superficial excess". The so-called "root deficiency" actually refers to the phenomenon of physical weakness, susceptibility to wind and cold, shortness of breath and fatigue, and the patient looks weak and powerless due to insufficient body righteousness; while "superficial excess" refers to the substantial nodular mass formed by lung cancer lesions in the local area, so lung cancer can be considered to be caused by deficiency and caused by deficiency. At this time, TCM can play a role in the word "prevention". For example, Buzhong Yiqi Decoction can be used to replenish qi and strengthen the body, improve the patient's symptoms of fatigue, limb weakness, fatigue and fatigue, fundamentally improve and correct the "root deficiency" to prevent the occurrence of "superficial excess"; Ginseng Yangrong Decoction can also be used to nourish qi and blood to improve the symptoms of lung and spleen qi deficiency, fatigue, thin muscles, pale complexion and shortness of breath. This is also a good prescription for deficiency syndrome, which prevents the occurrence of excess syndrome by replenishing deficiency.

Treatment of lung cancer

The second point of TCM in preventing and treating lung cancer is “treatment”. However, it is not like surgical operation to remove tumor cells, but it is committed to alleviating symptoms and improving the quality of life of patients. It can be applied to patients with mid-to-late stage lung cancer.

First, Chinese medicine's method of tonifying the spleen can significantly improve the digestive system symptoms caused by chemotherapy.

In conventional treatment, due to the use of a large number of chemotherapy drugs, many patients will experience obvious gastrointestinal symptoms, such as vomiting, loss of appetite, etc., which greatly reduces the quality of life of patients. As mentioned earlier, Buzhong Yiqi Decoction can nourish the spleen and lungs. The spleen is the foundation of acquired constitution and is responsible for transportation and transformation. The so-called transportation and transformation refers to the transportation and transformation of water, grain and fluid, which can be simply understood as the digestion and absorption of food. In addition, Liujunzi Decoction can improve the symptoms of spleen and stomach weakness, qi deficiency and phlegm, and help patients digest and absorb.

Second, traditional Chinese medicine can have a significant therapeutic effect on the symptoms of lung cancer.

Lung cancer patients often have symptoms such as cough, hemoptysis, chest pain, and low fever. Maimendong decoction has the effects of nourishing the spleen and moistening the lungs, and lowering adverse qi, which can significantly improve the symptoms of cough and sputum. It also has the effect of nourishing yin, which can improve the symptoms of systemic low fever caused by yin deficiency; Shashen Maidong decoction has the effect of promoting body fluid and moistening dryness, which can treat irritating dry cough and improve the symptoms of thirst and dry throat. Both can be used in the treatment of lung cancer in clinical practice.

Third, traditional Chinese medicine can improve cachexia symptoms in patients with advanced lung cancer.

Cachexia is a common clinical manifestation of advanced malignant tumors. Patients will experience dysfunction of multiple organs and systems throughout the body, accompanied by weight loss, muscle loss, loss of appetite, and haggard complexion. The emergence of tumor cachexia will seriously affect the patient's quality of life and shorten their survival, but the clinical treatment of cachexia is very limited. Therefore, improving cachexia and prolonging survival are currently effective solutions based on medical and humanistic levels. The traditional Chinese medicine prescription Bazhen Decoction is mainly used to treat deficiency of both qi and blood, and it can improve symptoms such as pale and sallow complexion, shortness of breath and fatigue, and loss of appetite. Shiquan Dabu Decoction is based on Bazhen Decoction and adds astragalus and cinnamon to warm and nourish qi and blood, which can also improve the above symptoms.

Traditional Chinese medicine is a treasure of Chinese medicine and plays an important role in the treatment of lung cancer. However, it should be emphasized that the use of traditional Chinese medicine to treat lung cancer requires doctors to have a strong theoretical foundation and rich clinical experience. Therefore, if patients have symptoms, they should go to a regular hospital to seek professional diagnosis and treatment to avoid misdiagnosis and wrong treatment.