Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment for Laryngeal Cancer

There are many names for laryngeal cancer in TCM literature, such as laryngeal fungus, laryngeal mushroom, laryngeal rock, laryngeal carbuncle, laryngeal sore, blooming carbuncle, and lock throat sore. Most of them are named after symptoms. For example, laryngeal fungus... grows in the throat, like fungus: the description of its symptoms is also quite detailed, such as "at first it is like scrofula, unable to eat, blocked and difficult to pass, gradually swollen and ruptured and festering", "laryngeal fungus is like duckweed, slightly high and thick, purple, grows beside the throat", "its color is black and ripe, bad breath, phlegm and hoarseness, it is an incurable disease". As for the pathogenesis of this disease, it is believed that it is caused by eating too much rich food, or depression and qi stagnation, or anger due to the seven emotions.

For patients with cough, yellow sputum, blood in sputum, hoarseness, sore throat, poor appetite, and symptoms of aversion to cold and fever, Qingyan Lige Decoction can be used with modifications. Drugs: Forsythia, Gardenia, Honeysuckle, Scutellaria, Coptis, Platycodon, Raw Rhubarb, Sophora flavescens, Scrophularia, Licorice, Sheqian, Tripterygium wilfordii, etc.: For patients with sore throat and loss of voice, laryngeal erosion, thin body, poor appetite, chest fullness or adverse reactions after radiotherapy, Buzhong Yiqi Decoction can be used with modifications. Drugs: Astragalus, Codonopsis, Atractylodes, Bupleurum, Cimicifuga, Tangerine Peel, Angelica, Sophora flavescens, Prunella Vulgaris, Kelp, Seaweed, Belamcanda, Angelica dahurica, Licorice, etc. It is also a component of comprehensive treatment.

Traditional Chinese medicine combined with surgery plays a unique role in the comprehensive treatment of tumors, including improving symptoms, improving quality of life, prolonging life, and stabilizing or shrinking tumors to a certain extent. By combining it with surgical treatment, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy in a planned manner, adverse reactions can be significantly reduced and long-term efficacy can be improved.

(1) Preoperative Chinese medicine treatment: mainly to prepare for surgery, improve the patient's general nutritional status and certain organ functions, so as to facilitate surgical treatment. Most of them use drugs that replenish qi and blood or strengthen the spleen and qi, nourish the liver and kidneys, such as Sijunzi Decoction, Bazhen Decoction, Baoyuan Decoction, Shiquan Dabu Decoction, etc., or adjust them in combination with TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment.

(2) Postoperative Chinese medicine treatment: Chinese medicine treatment is given in the short term after surgery to restore physical fitness and improve or alleviate certain adverse reactions after surgery, such as low fever, night sweats, decreased appetite, abdominal distension, and constipation. Treatment usually uses Xiangsha Liujunzi Decoction to regulate the spleen and stomach, Yupingfeng Powder to replenish qi and strengthen the exterior, and Zengye Decoction to nourish yin and produce body fluid. Long-term use of Chinese medicine conditioning after surgery is to improve physical fitness and minimize and avoid recurrence and metastasis.

(3) Traditional Chinese medicine combined with radiotherapy: Radiotherapy combined with traditional Chinese medicine can enhance the sensitivity of tumor cells to radiation, prevent and alleviate the adverse reactions and sequelae of radiotherapy, consolidate the effect of radiotherapy, prevent recurrence and metastasis, and improve long-term efficacy.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that radiation is a heat-toxic evil that can easily damage yin and consume qi, damage the spleen and stomach's transportation and transformation functions, and affect the source of qi and blood biochemical transformation. At the same time, qi deficiency can also lead to blood stasis. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, the prevention and treatment of these adverse reactions to radiotherapy should be treated by the principles of replenishing qi and nourishing yin, promoting body fluid and moistening dryness, strengthening the spleen and stomach, nourishing the liver and kidneys, clearing away heat and detoxifying, and promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Treatment should be carried out according to different parts and symptoms. For example, the dry mouth and sore throat caused by head and neck radiotherapy can be treated with Zengye Decoction, and radiation pneumonia is often treated with Qingzao Jiufei Decoction.