China has integrated her Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with the conventional cancer therapies of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy in the past two decades with very positive results. This integrated therapy combines the aggressiveness of the conventional therapies with the immune system enhancing capability of the TCM. Clinically it reduces the undesirable side effects of the radiation and chemotherapy and increases the effectiveness of the conventional therapies. It also improves the quality of life as well as increases the survival time. In some instances, TCM alone has shown excellent results. This is especially important to those who do not have medical insurance and cannot afford expensive cancer treatments, because the herbal treatment in the TCM is generally much less expensive than any other cancer treatments.

This webpage will be devoted to the cancer treatment using TCM alone or integrated TCM and other cancer therapies, both conventional and alternative.

To start, I would like to introduce a book I recently acquire that summarizes the integrated therapy in the 1990s (mostly from 1990 to 1996) in China. Although this book cannot really summarize the reports of such a large population, it is a starting point. The cover of the book and the information on the publisher's email addresses are shown in the picture.

Instead of going into the details of the treatments summarized in the book, I would first abstract some of the reports that showed short-term clinical results and/or long-term survival times of the treatments. This will give the viewers an bird's-eye view of the efficacy of the integrated therapy. Almost in all of the reports, the integrated therapy was better than the TCM alone or conventional alone when there were comparative clinical cases. The remarks of the therapists/oncologists who prepared the reports were generally the same: "The integrated therapy combines the strength and, often time, reduces the shortcomings of each individual therapy." I truly hope that the conventional oncologists and the alternative therapists in North America will make use of the extensive clinical experience of the integrated therapy in China to enrich their own practices. We the people and, possibly also the future patients, will definitely be benefited.

The book has a summary of the selected reports from various medical journals in China of the following types of cancer:

Brain cancer, tongue cancer, tonsil cancer, nose and throat cancer, thyroid gland cancer, esophagus cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, stomach cancer, primary liver cancer, cancer of the liver blood vessel, gallbladder cancer, cancer of the pancreas, colon cancer, leukemia, malignant lymphomas, cancer of the urinary tract, cervical uterus cancer, hysteromyoma, ovarian cancer, skin cancer, and bone cancer.

For those who can read Chinese and would like to read the book, they can contact the publisher via email stdph@istic.ac.cn stdph@public.sti.ac.cn or tel in Beijing (010)68515544-2953 or fax (010)68514035.

In the following abstract, there are two important pieces of information. First is the short-term clinical results. some reported complete recovery (CR), partial recovery (PR), stabilized (SD), cancer continue to progress or condition deteriorated (PD); some reported very effective, effective, non-effective; some reported in terms of percent tumor size reduction, e.g., CR for completed tumor elimination, PR for 50% or more tumor size reduction, MR for 25 to 50% tumor size reduction, S or stabilized for 0 to 25% tumor size reduction. Since these abstracts only serve as an bird's-eye view, viewers are to make their own judgement as to the relative effectiveness reported in different scales.

The second important piece of information is the survival time. When the book has the survival time information, it will be abstracted here. Some of the information had detailed percentages of survival times while some were very simplified, such as shortest survival time was 4 months, longest survival time was 10 years. Nevertheless, knowing the simplified report of survival time is better than not knowing.

The references are in Chinese for those who would like to search further, since most of the medical journals have no English name.

There are many reports that did not include both short-term clinical results and long-term survival times. They are not included here now in the overview abstracts. Most of the cases reported here are in stages III and IV or terminal.

BREAST CANCER REPORTS
American Cancer Society had the following statistics for the breast cancer in the year 2002 in the webpage
http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/CancerFacts&Figures2002TM.pdf
5-year survival for localized cases was 96%
5-year survival for regionally metastasized cases was 78%
5-year survival for distantly metastasized cases was 21%
5-year survival for overall average cases was 86%

Breast cancer report 1
50 cases of TCM + chemo/radiation
survival time above 3 years = 80%
survival time above 5 years = 66%
survival time above 10 years = 56%
survival time above 15 years = 32%
reference see below

Breast cancer report 2
31 cases of TCM + surgery/chemo/radiation
survival time above 3 years = 96.8%
survival time above 4 years = 93.5%
survival time above 5 years = 76.1%
reference see below

Breast cancer report 3
52 cases of TCM + chemo, 10 cases of which could not use chemo.
5-year survival time = 67%
Overall effectiveness (100% less %not-effective) = 77%
Overall effectiveness = very effective + effective
reference see below

Breast cancer report 4
135 cases of TCM + surgery/chemo/radiation
survival time above 3 years = 70.3%
survival time above 5 years = 45.9%
survival time above 7 years = 10.4%
reference see below

LUNG AND BRONCHUS CANCER REPORTS
American Cancer Society had the following statistics for the lung and bronchus cancer in year 2002 in the webpage
http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/CancerFacts&Figures2002TM.pdf
5-year survival for localized cases was 48%
5-year survival for regionally metastasized cases was 21%
5-year survival for distantly metastasized cases was 3%
5-year survival for overall average cases was 15%

Lung cancer report 1
18 cases divided into 2 groups
group 1 used TCM alone
group 2 used chemo alone
survival time of group 1 from 155 to 503 days
survival time of group 2 from 90 to 488 days
statistical data: t = 3.192, P < 0.01
reference see below

Lung cancer report 2
45 terminal cases treated with TCM alone
Overall effectiveness = 53%
Survival time from 2 to 23 months
reference see below

Lung cancer report 3
8 cases TCM alone, 1 year survival time = 42.5%
6 cases TCM + surgery, 1 year survival time = 100%
? cases TCM + chemo, 1 year survival time = 54.4%
18 cases TCM + radiation, 1 year survival time = 50%
12 cases TCM + surgery + chemo, 1 year survival time = 91.7%
6 cases TCM + surgery + radiation, 1 year survival time = 83.3%
10 cases TCM + chemo + radiation, 1 year survival time = 60%
reference see below

Lung cancer report 4
304 terminal cases of TCM alone
survival time above 1 year = 60.94%
survival time above 3 year = 31.86%
survival time above 5 year = 24.20%
reference see below

Lung cancer report 5
59 cases TCM + chemo
Overall effectiveness = 96%
reference see below

PRIMARY LIVER CANCER REPORTS
American Cancer Society had the following statistics for primary liver cancer in the year 2002 in the webpage
http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/CancerFacts&Figures2002TM.pdf
5-year survival for localized cases was 14%
5-year survival for regionally metastasized cases was 6%
5-year survival for distantly metastasized cases was 2%
5-year survival for overall average cases was 6%

China is very experienced in the treatment of primary liver cancer. The effectiveness of the treatment and survival time are better than those in North America, whether conventional or alternative. The lady doctor who coordinated the CDA-II 3rd clinical trial concluded in September of 2002, Dr. Wen-Xia Huang, had already published an article in 1990 presenting her 28 cases of 10-year survival primary liver cancer (see Liver cancer report 25 below). Following are some the reports in various medical journals. Note that most of the cases are equivalent to regionally or distantly metastasized in ACS statistics.

Liver cancer report 1
60 cases of TCM alone
survival time above 6 months = 32 cases
survival time above 12 months = 19 cases
survival time above 24 months = 6 cases
survival time above 36 months = 3 cases
survival time above 48 months = 1 cases
reference see below

Liver cancer report 2
38 cases of TCM alone
survival time above 3 months = 36 cases
survival time above 6 months = 22 cases
survival time above 9 months = 17 cases
survival time above 12 months = 12 cases
survival time above 18 months = 8 cases
survival time above 24 months = 6 cases
survival time above 36 months = 4 cases
survival time above 48 months = 3 cases
survival time above 60 months = 2 cases
reference see below

Liver cancer report 3
25 cases of TCM alone
survival time between 4 months and 10 years
reference see below

Liver cancer report 4
971 cases of TCM alone for terminal liver cancer
In the short-term clinical results:
Fully recovered = 186 cases
Very effective = 247 cases
Fairly effective = 109 cases
Not effective = 429 cases
Long-term survival time between 105 days and 10 years, averaged 5.8 years
reference see below

Liver cancer report 5
44 cases of TCM alone
survival time above 6 months = 77.3%
survival time above 12 months = 59.0%
survival time above 36 months = 15.9%
survival time above 60 months = 6.8%
Longest survival time = 8 years
reference see below

Liver cancer report 6
31 cases of TCM alone
Very effective = 22 cases
Fairly effective = 4 cases
Not effective = 5 cases
Overall effective = 84%
reference see below

Liver cancer report 7
TCM alone
survival time above 1 year = 29.3%
survival time above 2 year = 14.5%
survival time above 3 year = 8.2%
survival time above 4 year = 5.2%
survival time above 5 year = 4.3%
reference see below

Liver cancer report 8
TCM alone
One case survival time above 5 years
reference see below

Liver cancer report 9
30 cases TCM alone
average survival time = 15 months
reference see below

Liver cancer report 10
20 cases TCM alone
survival time above 6 months = 53.4%
survival time above 12 months = 26.7%
reference see below

Liver cancer report 11
A report from a medical school in Japan showed that when patients with cirrhosis were given a traditional Chinese herbal formula Hsiao-chai-hu-tang continuously as a liver cancer preventive supplement, within 5 years 10% of the patients with herbal supplement developed liver cancer compared to 20% without the herbal supplement.
reference see below

Liver cancer report 12
128 cases of TCM alone
Short term clinical results:
Fully recovered = 5 cases (4%)
Very effective = 5 cases (4%)
Fairly effective = 79 cases (62%)
Not effective = 39 cases (30%)
Duration of treatment ranged from 87 days to 36 months, averaged 9.7 months.
The 5 cases of fully recovered had no previous radiation or chemo.
Longest survival time was 60 months, average survival time was 48 months.
reference see below

Liver cancer report 13
200 cases of TCM alone
Short-term clinical results:
Full recovery = 1 case (0.5%)
Partial recovery = 16 cases (8.0%)
Tumor stabilized = 161 cases (80.5%)
reference see below

Liver cancer report 14
17 cases of TCM with slight chemo
survival time above 3 months = 7 cases
survival time 35 to 49 months = 3 cases
reference see below

Liver cancer report 15
32 cases of TCM alone using polystick versicolor with other herbs
Short-term clinical results:
Partial recovery = 3 cases
Tumor stabilized = 13 cases
Diseased progressed = 16 cases
reference see below

Liver cancer report 16
275 cases of TCM alone
short-term clinical results:
Tumor size reduced more than 50% = 4 cases
Tumor stabilized = 170 cases
Survival time above 6 months = 41.6%
Survival time above 12 months = 27.3%
reference see below

Liver cancer report 17
70 cases TCM alone
survival time less than 3 months = 1 case
survival time 3 to 6 months = 23 cases (32.5%)
survival time 6 to 12 months = 19 cases (27.1%)
survival time above 12 months = 27 cases (38.6%)
Longest survival was 42 months and still surviving when interviewed.
reference see below

Liver cancer report 18
80 cases of TCM alone and 14 cases TCM + chemo
short-term clinical results:
Partial recovery = 3 cases (3.2%)
Tumor stabilized = 50 cases (53.2%)
disease progressed = 41 cases (43.6%)
reference see below

Liver cancer report 19
42 cases TCM + chemo
survival time 3 to 6 months = 16 cases (38.1%)
survival time 6 to 12 months = 20 cases (47.6%)
survival time 12 to 15 months = 6 cases (14.3%)
reference see below

Liver cancer report 20
72 cases TCM + radiation
Overall effectiveness (very effective + fairly effective) = 92%
reference see below

Liver cancer report 21
110 cases TCM + chemo + radiation
survival time above 1 year = 70.8%
survival time above 3 year = 33.8%
survival time above 5 year = 16%
reference see below

Liver cancer report 22
27 cases TCM + surgery
survival time above 6 months = 21 cases (77.8%)
survival time above 12 months = 10 cases (37.0%)
survival time above 24 months = 4 cases (14.8%
reference see below

Liver cancer report 23
5 cases TCM + chemo + surgery
survival time above 1 year = 5 cases (100%)
survival time above 3 year = 2 cases (40%)
reference see below

Liver cancer report 24
13 cases TCM + chemo
Very effective 4 cases (30.8%) for TCM + chemo, 0 case (0%) for chemo alone
Fairly effective 5 cases (38.5%) for TCM + chemo, 5 case (26.3%) for chemo alone
Not effective 4 cases (30.8%) for TCM + chemo, 14 case (73.7%) for chemo alone
reference see below

Liver cancer report 25
28 selected cases 10-year survival using integrated TCM
2 cases TCM + surgery
5 cases TCM + surgery + chemo
3 cases TCM + radiation
8 inoperable cases TCM alone
3 inoperable cases TCM + chemo
3 inoperable cases TCM + radiation
4 inoperable cases TCM + radiation + chemo
survival time above 10 years = 28 cases
reference see below

Liver cancer report 26
228 cases TCM + surgery
survival time above 1 year = 59.64%
survival time above 3 year = 34.85
survival time above 5 year = 25.41%
reference see below

STOMACH CANCER REPORTS
American Cancer Society had the following statistics for stomach cancer in the year 2002 in the webpage
http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/CancerFacts&Figures2002TM.pdf
5-year survival for localized cases was 59%
5-year survival for regionally metastasized cases was 22%
5-year survival for distantly metastasized cases was 2%
5-year survival for overall average cases was 22%

Stomach cancer report 1
33 terminal cases TCM alone
Average survival time = 3.5 years
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 2
32 cases with internal bleeding, TCM alone
Short-term results (Within 3 months):
Interrnal bleeding stopped = 22 cases
Interrnal bleeding reduced = 8 cases
Interrnal bleeding continued = 2 cases
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 3
45 cases precancerous chronic stomach inflammation, TCM alone
Short-term results:
Completely recovered = 27 cases
Very effective = 5 cases
Fairly effective = 9 cases
Not effective = 3 cases
Deteriorated = 1 cases
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 4
80 cases precancerous chronic stomach inflammation, TCM alone
Short-term results:
Very effective = 33 cases
Fairly effective = 40 cases
Not effective = 7 cases
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 5
Cases that were not operable, or were intolerable to chemo after surgery, TCM alone
Short-term results:
Very effective = 42.3%
Fairly effective = 46.2%
Not effective = 11.5%
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 6
32 cases TCM alone
Short-term results:
Very effective = 12 cases
Fairly effective = 12 cases
Not effective = 8 cases
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 7
32 cases TCM alone
Short-term results:
Completely recovered = 1 case
Partially recovered = 6 cases
Tumor stabilized = 20 cases
Deteriorated = 5 cases
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 8
25 cases TCM alone using herbal formulation #1
15 cases TCM alone using herbal formulation #2
Short-term results:
Formulation #1, overall effectiveness = 76.7%
Formulation #2, overall effectiveness = 53.3%
These different short-term results showed that although both were using TCM alone, different formulation gave different effectiveness.
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 9
47 cases TCM alone
1-yr survival = 31.9%
3-yr survival = 17.0%
5-yr survival = 12.8%
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 10
157 cases TCM alone
Short-term results:
Recovered = 4.5%
Stabilized = 85.3%
Deteriorated = 10.2%
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 11
22 cases TCM alone
34 cases TCM + chemo
3, 5, and 10 year survival rate not much different between TCM alone and TCM+chemo.
10-year survival = 12.5%
81 cases of TCM + 3 different chemo drugs
3-yr survival = 55%, 65%, 76%, in which 5FU drug gave the best result.
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 12
152 cases TCM + chemo
1-yr survival = 88.82%
2-yr survival = 71.72%
3-yr survival = 49.17%
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 13
86 cases TCM + chemo and 50 cases TCM alone
Short-term results:
Very effective = 2 cases for TCM+chemo
Fairly effective = 56 cases for TCM+chemo
Overall effective = 58 cases for TCM+chemo, 8 cases for chemo alone
Tumor stabilized = 21 cases for TCM+chemo, 15 cases for chemo alone
Not effective = 7 cases for TCM+chemo (8%), 27 cases for chemo alone (54%)
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 14
86 terminal cases TCM + chemo
6 months survival = 84.68%
12 months survival = 43.98%
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 15
37 cases TCM + chemo
Short-term results: Complete and partial recovery = 62.12% Long-term results: 1-yr survival = 40.54%
2-yr survival = 21.62%
3-yr survival = 8.1%
4-yr survival = 2.7%
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 16
152 cases TCM + chemo
Above 1-yr survival = 88.82%
Above 2-yr survival = 71.72%
Above 3-yr survival = 49.17%
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 17
TCM + chemo
Above 1-yr survival = 79.62%
Above 2-yr survival = 61.44%
Above 3-yr survival = 40.84%
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 18
30 cases TCM + surgery
1-yr survival = 2 cases
2-yr survival = 3 cases
3-yr survival = 11 cases
4-yr survival = 6 cases
5-yr survival = 6 cases
6-yr survival = 1 cases
10yr survival = 1 cases
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 19
34 cases TCM + surgery + chemo
Above 1-yr survival = 86.5%
Above 3-yr survival = 75.7%
Above 5-yr survival = 63.1%
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 20
76 cases TCM + surgery + chemo
Above 1-yr survival = 60.52%
Above 3-yr survival = 47.36%
Above 5-yr survival = 18.24%
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 21
72 cases TCM + surgery + chemo
Treatment 1 to 3 years: 72 cases survived out of 72 cases treated (100%)
Treatment 3 to 5 years: 36 cases survived out of 51 cases treated (70.6%)
Treatment above 5 years: 16 cases survived out of 33 cases treated (48.5%)
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 22
9 cases embedding permanently Moschus moschiferus (Pinyin = Shexiang) in the colon or stomach after surgery. This was a very unusual procedure, but seemed to work and according to the author of the book, deserved further exploration.
Shortest survival after embedding = 4 years
Longest survival after embedding = 8 years
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 23
90 cases alternating TCM and antibiotics in early stomach cancer
Short-term results:
Very effective = 50 cases
Fairly effective = 31 cases
Not effective = 9 cases
2 to 7 years follow-up 90% effective.
reference see below

Stomach cancer report 24
This procedure used external application of mixtures of herbs and animals such as centipede and lizard to treat stomach cancer
Short-term results:
Very effective = 80.87%
Fairly effective = 14.21%
Not effective = 4.92%
The mixtures could also be applied to liver, lung and colon cancer.
reference see below