How to treat liver cancer with traditional Chinese medicine? Treatment methods for liver cancer at different stages

Treatment of liver cancer at different stages

Nowadays, people are paying more and more attention to their health, but there are still many diseases that affect people's health. Liver cancer is a disease that is relatively harmful to the human body. The treatment methods for liver cancer are different at different stages. Here are some treatment methods for liver cancer at different stages:

1. Liver transplantation: Liver transplantation is currently the only means to cure liver cancer. Liver transplantation solves three problems at the same time: (1) liver cancer; (2) liver cirrhosis; (3) control of chronic hepatitis B. After liver transplantation, patients can resume normal life and have a higher quality of life. However, there is a shortage of donors, a long waiting time before surgery, high cost of liver transplantation, and the need to take immunosuppressants for a long time after surgery. Indications: Liver cancer lesions are limited to the liver, there is no distant organ metastasis, and the functions of other organs in the body can tolerate the surgery.

2. Liver resection for liver cancer: In the past, present and for a long time in the future, liver resection is the main treatment method besides liver transplantation. As long as the patient's general condition allows (heart, lung, kidney and other organs function well), liver cancer is limited to one lobe or segment of the liver, and it is estimated that the remaining liver function after resection is sufficient to sustain the patient's life, radical resection can be performed. If the cirrhotic liver is still there after resection, the recurrence or recurrence rate of liver cancer is high, and the cirrhosis develops progressively, complications of liver decompensation and portal hypertension (upper gastrointestinal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, refractory ascites, etc.) may occur, endangering the patient's life.

How to treat liver cancer with traditional Chinese medicine

As a TCM oncologist, I often hear such remarks: TCM treating tumors is deceiving! Even many of my Western medicine colleagues are skeptical about TCM treating tumors. The reason is that many tumor patients completely rely on TCM, or even listen to so-called "famous doctors". They are too casual and end up losing both money and life.

There are often patients like this, who, when they reach the terminal stage of cancer, come to the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine and say, they have tried all kinds of treatments, but there is no other way, so the doctor just prescribes some Chinese medicine to delay the disease.

These two situations always make me sigh.

In the treatment of tumors, if Chinese medicine plays a good role, it can make the treatment more effective; if it plays a bad role, it will be useless. If patients blindly believe in quack doctors, it may delay the treatment of the disease. This is particularly evident in the treatment of liver cancer, the king of cancers.

Traditional Chinese medicine has its own characteristics and advantages in the treatment of liver cancer. We should also clearly realize that as an auxiliary therapy, traditional Chinese medicine is not very effective in eliminating local lesions and cancer cells. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine should grasp its own "entry" timing, cooperate with surgery, intervention and other major "roles" in the treatment of liver cancer, and play its part well.

Role 1: Liver defender

The liver is the chemical factory of the human body. It is busy and is responsible for the synthesis, decomposition, storage of nutrients, as well as the degradation and excretion of toxins and waste. Liver function is damaged in patients with liver cancer, and treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy can also damage the liver. Traditional Chinese medicine protects the liver to the greatest extent possible based on syndrome differentiation. Currently, commonly used enzyme-lowering drugs in clinical practice, such as Ganlixin and Wuzhi Tablets, are extracts of traditional Chinese medicine.

Role 2: Scavenger

Chemotherapy drugs often cause bone marrow suppression, immune function suppression, liver and kidney toxicity, etc., resulting in extremely poor quality of life for patients. While traditional Chinese medicine strengthens the body's body and strengthens and regulates the body's immune function, heat-clearing and detoxifying Chinese medicine is like a scavenger, assisting in detoxification and toxicity reduction.

Escort for surgery

Surgery is an important means of treating early liver cancer. For liver cancer patients who have the opportunity for surgery, they can be treated according to their symptoms and signs before surgery. Chinese medicines that replenish qi and promote the production of body fluids can improve patients' tolerance to surgery.

After surgery, Chinese medicine not only promotes wound healing, but also prevents postoperative recurrence. Considering that cancer patients have already removed most of their "cancer poison" after surgery, but their vitality is damaged, and the qi and blood functions of their internal organs are weak, Chinese medicine treatment can be used to strengthen the spleen and consolidate the foundation, combined with Chinese herbal medicines that fight cancer and detoxify, and promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, to strengthen the body and eliminate evil, a two-pronged approach that can improve surgical trauma, reduce complications, and promote liver function recovery.

A good wife's help during radiotherapy and chemotherapy

Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are important steps in the treatment of liver cancer. However, the adverse reactions of chemotherapy drugs often cause patients to suffer a lot, and even terminate the treatment, resulting in the entire treatment being abandoned halfway.

At this time, Chinese medicines that strengthen the spleen and stomach can improve gastrointestinal discomfort such as nausea and vomiting caused by radiotherapy and chemotherapy; while Chinese medicines that replenish qi and blood and nourish yin can improve the phenomenon of decreased red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, and protect the hematopoietic function of the bone marrow.

Patients with advanced liver cancer often experience adverse reactions such as fever, nausea, vomiting, heaviness of the head and body, upper abdominal distension, and decreased appetite after hepatic artery perfusion embolization chemotherapy. The incidence of these adverse reactions can be significantly reduced by using traditional Chinese medicine to clear away heat and dampness, strengthen the spleen and regulate qi, and soothe the stomach and stop vomiting.

A prescription for advanced liver cancer

For advanced liver cancer that has lost the chance of surgical and interventional treatment, the focus of traditional Chinese medicine treatment is not on the tumor, but on improving symptoms.

The TCM treatment plan at this time can be explained by the following prescription: Anti-cancer prescription = syndrome-based medication (40%) + anti-cancer medication (40%) + symptomatic medication (20%).

That is to say, if there are ten Chinese medicines in a Chinese medicine prescription, at least two of them are used to improve the patient's symptoms.

If the patient has poor liver function and ascites, he often has loss of appetite. You can add fried barley malt, Shenqu, hawthorn and other herbs to stimulate the appetite and strengthen the spleen. If accompanied by nausea and vomiting, add Su Geng, Fa Xia and other herbs to soothe the stomach and stop vomiting. If accompanied by abdominal distension, add Dang Qi Pi, costus root, Magnolia officinalis, Citrus aurantium and other herbs to promote qi and reduce distension. If there is jaundice, often add Artemisia capillaris, Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae, Poria and other herbs to promote diuresis and reduce jaundice. If accompanied by pain, add Curcuma aromatica, Corydalis yanhusuo and other herbs to promote blood circulation and relieve pain.