TCM's understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of tongue cancer

There is no word for cancer in traditional Chinese medicine. Cancer is not cancer. Symptoms such as fever and runny nose during a cold are the body's detoxification or the virus fighting. This is a process of protecting ourselves. Similarly, the symptoms of cancer are also self-defense, but it is the body's last line of defense. Today, let's take a look at the understanding of traditional Chinese medicine on the etiology and pathogenesis of tongue cancer:

At present, the treatment of tongue cancer is: for early stage highly differentiated tongue cancer of stage I to II, surgery or radiotherapy alone is recommended, and for advanced stage III to IV tongue cancer, comprehensive treatment with surgery as the main method and traditional Chinese medicine combined is adopted. The purpose of comprehensive treatment is to prevent postoperative recurrence and distant metastasis of tumors, which is the right direction to improve survival rate and cure rate. Traditional Chinese medicine treatment - syndrome differentiation and classification treatment.

In the early stage of tongue cancer, the main syndrome is evil and excess, which presents as the syndrome of fire and poison accumulation. Then it is mixed with deficiency and excess. In the late stage, the evil is strong and the body is weak, presenting the state of both qi and blood deficiency. Clinically, the syndrome can be differentiated and treated according to the course of the disease, and the addition and subtraction can be made according to the symptoms.

1. Initial stage

Symptoms: A small hard lump grows on the tongue, shaped like a bean, often on the edge of the tongue, hard to the touch, or grows like a fungus. Or there may be erosion or ulceration, which does not heal after long-term treatment, pain and discomfort, fishy saliva, dry mouth, less yellow urine, red tongue, thin yellow fur, and stringy pulse.

Treatment method: Clear the heart and relieve heat, detoxify and resolve stagnation.

2. Mid-term

Symptoms: Tongue cancer nodules increase in size, and may cause erosion, ulceration, and easy bleeding. The pain is unbearable, and the cheeks and ears also hurt. The tongue is difficult to move, which interferes with eating and speaking. There is a lot of foul-smelling saliva. The tongue is red, with a thick or greasy yellow coating, and a stringy and rapid pulse.

Treatment method: Clear away heat and detoxify, disperse nodules and relieve pain.

3. Late stage

Symptoms: Swollen tongue or obvious ulcers in the mouth, easy to bleed, inability to stretch and retract the tongue, difficulty opening the mouth and eating, foul breath, lumps on the neck and under the jaw, or swelling through the tongue and cheeks, soup leaking out, emaciation, shortness of breath and fatigue, mental fatigue, pale tongue with greasy coating, and thin and rapid pulse.

Treatment method: Nourish blood and replenish qi, detoxify and resolve stagnation.

The above stages are an overview of the evolution of tongue cancer. There is no strict boundary between the three stages. The main treatment is to clear away heat and toxic substances, disperse nodules and attack solidity, especially in the early and middle stages when the evil is strong and the body is strong. However, the occurrence of this disease is related to the deficiency of the body. Bitter and cold products can easily damage the spleen, and the course of the disease can easily damage the body. Therefore, we must pay attention to protecting the body's health and eliminating the evil without damaging the body.