The statistics are staggering--one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, with a survival rate remaining essentially unchanged for women whose cancer has spread from the breast. As the war on cancer continues, interest in Chinese herbal medicine as a complementary treatment approach continues to grow. Treatment approaches include supportive therapies and cancer therapies. Cancer therapies are based either on the biology of cancer or on Traditional Chinese Medical theory (TCM). These approaches are often combined to improve quality of life and survival.
Fu Zheng Therapy
Fu Zheng therapy is supportive by design rather than an actual cancer treatment. Fu Zheng therapy provides support for the body, restores balance, and ameliorates the symptoms of chemotherapy and radiation. Additionally, Fu Zheng therapy increases survival time in many cancer patients.
Although there are many herbs which may be utilized in a Fu Zheng approach to therapy, some of the more common ones include Ganoderma (Ling Zhi), Ginseng (Ren Shen), Cordyceps (Dong Cong Xia Cao), Astragalus (Huang qi), Eucommia (Du Zhong), Epimedium (Yin Yang Huo), licorice (Gan Cao), Codonopsis (Dang Shen) and Rehmannia (Sheng Di Huang and Shu Di Huan). The specific combinations and the dose of each herb may vary from person to person to allow the formula to address the specific needs of each individual. A properly constructed formula will have little to no side effects and will greatly improve quality of life markers in most people.
Cancer Treatment--The Biology of Cancer
Chinese herbal medicine can also be used as a treatment, typically in combination with Western medical cancer therapies, to treat cancer directly rather than simply offer supportive care as in Fu Zheng therapy.
The effects of many Chinese herbs on the proliferation (growth), invasiveness (tendency of cancer cells to invade surrounding tissue) and metastasis (spread) of cancer cells has been established and this allows for an additional approach to treating breast cancer with Chinese herbs. Chinese herbs may be directly cytotoxic (kill cancer cells), may inhibit growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) necessary to nourish the growth of a cancer. Herbs may also inhibit cellular mitosis (the division of chromosomes into two identical sets) thereby slowing the growth of a breast cancer. Commonly used herbs for treating breast cancer include: Scute Barbata (Ban Zhi Lian), Oldenlandia (Bai Hua She She Cao), Curcumin (Yu Jin), Lithospermum (Zi Cao Gen), Indigo (Qing Dai) and Gynostemma (Jiao Gu Lan).
Traditional Chinese Medicine and Cancer
Chinese medicine has its own understanding of cancer initiation and development and has designed herbal medicine approaches for treating cancer based on this understanding.
Herbs in this category play an important role in breast cancer treatment, but typically do not exert a direct influence on the cancer in the areas of proliferation, invasiveness and metastasis. Commonly used herbs include Zedoria (E Zhu) Sparganium (San Leng), Blue citrus (Qing pi) Vaccariae (Wu Bu Liu Xing), Dandelion (Pu Gong Ying) Gardenia (Zhi Zi) and Fritillaria (Chuan Bei Mu).
References
- "Introduction to Integrative Oncology"; Daniel Weber, Ph.D. M.Sc.; 2009
- "Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology"; John K. Chen, L.Ac., O.M.D., Pharm.D.; 2004
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