What are the differences between Chinese and Western medicine in treating liver cancer? How to manage the diet of liver cancer patients?

Liver cancer is the second most common cancer in my country after lung cancer. This cancer can cause pain in the liver area, weight loss and anorexia. It is extremely harmful to the patient's body. At present, there are two types of treatment methods: traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Early detection and early treatment are generally recommended to benefit the health of the body. Let's take a look at how to treat liver cancer?

Western medicine treatment of liver cancer

Method 1: Surgical resection

For most patients with early-stage liver cancer, liver cancer resection can cure the disease, because the tumor is small at this time and has not yet spread and metastasized. The most effective treatment is surgical resection. However, the specific effect needs to be evaluated based on the patient's physical condition and living conditions. Generally, the prognosis of early-stage liver cancer surgical resection is related to the size of the tumor at the time of resection. The better the physical fitness and the smaller the tumor, the higher the five-year survival rate.

Method 2: Cellular immunotherapy

Cellular immunotherapy is a method that stimulates the body's own immune system to inhibit and treat tumors. It can make up for the shortcomings of traditional surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. While killing tumor cells, it regulates and restores the body's immune function, kills formed tumor cells, inhibits the formation of new tumor cells, and blocks the root cause of tumor recurrence and metastasis. It is the best method for treating liver cancer.

Method 3: Radiotherapy and chemotherapy

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy have a relatively direct therapeutic effect on liver cancer. They can shrink tumors and alleviate symptoms to a certain extent. However, radiotherapy and chemotherapy can also cause great harm to patients, suppress the body's immunity, and cause damage to human functions. Clinically, they are often combined with cellular immunotherapy for comprehensive treatment.

Traditional Chinese Medicine for the Treatment of Liver Cancer

When liver cancer is combined with cirrhosis in the early stages, liver cancer surgery is more likely to cause liver damage or even severe liver failure. In addition, when the liver cancer is located near the liver hilum, the risk of surgery is also greater. Finally, if the elderly and frail cannot withstand liver cancer surgery, conservative treatment with Chinese medicine is generally used.

1. Dampness and heat accumulation

Main symptoms: jaundice, fever, thirst, dry and bitter mouth, poor appetite, nausea and vomiting, yellow and red urine, constipation, abdominal distension, yellow and greasy tongue coating, red tongue, stringy and slippery pulse, etc.

Treatment principle: clear away heat and dampness, detoxify and resolve stagnation.

Prescription: Yinchenhao decoction with added ingredients. Rhubarb 9g, Gardenia 9g, Artemisia capillaris 30g, Red peony root 15g, Prunella vulgaris 15g, Scutellaria barbata 15g, Lobelia 15g, Hedyotis diffusa 30g, Shuyangquan 30g, Poria 15g, etc.

Add or subtract: For abdominal distension, shortness of breath, scanty urine volume, ascites, and lower limb edema, add 15g of Plantago seed and 10g of Rhizoma Phytophthora; for nausea and vomiting, add 10g each of Rhizoma Anemarrhenae, Rhizoma Pinelliae, and Pericarpium Citrus Reticulatae, and 20g of Hematite; for hematemesis and bloody stool, add 10g each of Rhizoma Imperatae and Platycladus orientalis charcoal.

2. Weak spleen and stomach

Main symptoms: fatigue, emaciation, distended abdomen, edema of face and limbs, poor appetite, nausea, abdominal distension and diarrhea, pale and fat tongue, greasy white tongue coating, and slow pulse.

Treatment principle: tonify the spleen and replenish qi.

Prescription: Sijunzi Decoction with added ingredients. Codonopsis pilosula 15g, Astragalus membranaceus 20g, Atractylodes macrocephala 15g, Poria cocos 15g each, Licorice root 6g, Tangerine peel 12g, Chinese yam 15g, Coix seed 30g, Pinellia 9g, Aucklandia lappa 9g, Amomum villosum 9g, Magnolia officinalis 12g, etc.

Add or subtract: For chest tightness, add 6g each of Bupleurum and Citrus aurantium; for loose stools, add 9g each of scorched Crataegus and stewed Pueraria root; for blood stasis, add 10g each of Curcuma, Peach Kernel, and Safflower.

3. Liver and kidney yin deficiency

Main symptoms: low-grade fever or hot flashes and night sweats, persistent pain in the flanks and abdomen, thin body, distended abdomen, thirst and irritability, or nosebleeds and bleeding from the teeth, or blood in the stool, subcutaneous ecchymosis, red tongue with little coating, and weak, thready and rapid pulse.

Treatment principle: Nourish blood and soothe the liver, nourish yin and tonify the kidney.

Prescription: Yi Guan Jian with modifications. 15g each of raw and cooked rehmannia root, 15g of yam, 12g of cornus officinalis, 12g of moutan bark, 12g of red peony root, 15g of wolfberry fruit, 15g of angelica, 15g of processed tortoise shell, 15g of processed turtle shell, and 10g of earthworm.

Add or subtract: For patients with jaundice and oliguria, add 30g of Artemisia capillaris, 12g of Gardenia jasminoides, 12g each of Alisma orientalis, Plantago seed, and Cibotium bark; for patients with flank pain, add 10g each of Corydalis yanhusuo, Linderae scutellariae, and Toosendan fruit.

Western medicine fights cancer and treats symptoms, while traditional Chinese medicine treats liver disease and prevents recurrence and treats the root cause. Make full use of the different advantages of Chinese and Western medicine, effectively integrate them, and make the best use of their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. For patients in the early and middle stages, first use Western medicine, focusing on suppressing and killing cancer tumors and reducing the burden of cancer in the liver, while using Chinese medicine to protect the liver and reduce toxicity and increase efficacy. Once the traumatic treatment of Western medicine comes to an end, traditional Chinese medicine will be used as the main method to suppress tumors with zero toxicity, combined with syndrome differentiation and treatment, which will not only gently clean up the residual cancer cells, but also effectively protect the liver and fight viruses, block the process of liver damage, and prevent the emergence of new cancer foci. Once new lesions appear, Western medicine will still be used for local tumor treatment; and the focus is still on suppressing tumors with zero toxicity, protecting the liver, reversing the process of liver cirrhosis or fibrosis, and reducing the possibility of new lesions. After 2 to 3 years of treatment, it is often possible to effectively eliminate the lesions in the liver, fundamentally improve the texture and function of the liver, and fundamentally avoid the consequences of recurrence and metastasis of liver cancer.

How to properly regulate the diet for liver cancer?

1. Eat small, frequent meals

Patients who develop to the late stage generally have some impact on their liver function, so it takes time for the body to recover. The fat absorbed by the intestine and digestion will also be affected by liver metabolism. What should patients with advanced liver cancer eat? Therefore, patients should have a reasonable diet, with easy to absorb and digest, as diverse as possible, and the diet should be light, rich in high fat and vitamins and low in fat, and adhere to the principle of eating small meals frequently.

2. Low-salt diet

Some patients do not pay too much attention to details in their daily diet, and still follow the high-salt diet before the disease. Experts tell everyone that this is an incorrect eating habit. How should patients with advanced liver cancer eat? Patients with liver cancer, especially those in the advanced stage, should adhere to a low-salt diet. Patients with ascites should pay special attention to diet, control sodium intake, and eat a low-salt diet.

3. Liver-protecting and blood-replenishing foods

Because the onset of this disease is related to the liver, it is natural to eat more foods that can nourish and protect the liver to prevent liver function from declining. Foods that have the effect of nourishing and protecting the liver include mushrooms, oysters, and shiitake mushrooms. It is not enough to protect and nourish the liver, so what should be the diet for patients with advanced liver cancer? Because the patient is weak after the operation, he should eat some foods that can stop bleeding and replenish blood to replenish qi and blood.

4. Pay attention to vitamin supplementation.

Dietary principles for liver cancer: In addition to the intake of the above substances, it is necessary to ensure the intake of various vitamins, so that it can have anti-cancer effects. Therefore, patients need to eat more fresh vegetables and fruits containing vitamins. Carotene can be converted into vitamin A after entering the human body, and patients can also eat more foods containing carotene.

5. Develop good living habits

Develop good living habits, ensure regular eating and sleeping habits, ensure good sleep quality, reduce physical fatigue, relax the body, mind and spirit, correct bad habits developed in life in time, refuse to smoke and drink, and create a good environment for a healthy life.

Patients with liver cancer should have a correct and reasonable diet, and then cooperate with drug treatment, then the patient will get good therapeutic effect.

What are the factors that affect the prognosis of liver cancer?

Factors that affect the prognosis include: ① persistent effects of the cause; ② older males; ③ persistent jaundice, and if bile enzyme separation occurs, the prognosis is poor; ④ persistent or recurrent ascites, and poor response to diuretics; ⑤ the occurrence of hepatic encephalopathy, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, hepatorenal syndrome, etc.; ⑥ coagulation dysfunction, and large subcutaneous bleeding indicate a poor prognosis.