Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine: An Introduction
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Underlying Concepts
Underlying the practice of TCM is a unique view of the world and the human body that is different from Western medicine concepts. This view is based on the ancient Chinese perception of humans as microcosms of the larger, surrounding universe—interconnected with nature and subject to its forces. The human body is regarded as an organic entity in which the various organs, tissues, and other parts have distinct functions but are all interdependent. In this view, health and disease relate to balance of the functions.
TCM Treatment
TCM emphasizes individualized treatment. Practitioners traditionally used four methods to evaluate a patient’s condition: observing (especially the tongue), hearing/smelling, asking/interviewing, and touching/palpating (especially the pulse).
TCM practitioners use a variety of therapies in an effort to promote health and treat disease. The most commonly used are Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture.
- Chinese herbal medicine. The Chinese materia medica (a pharmacological reference book used by TCM practitioners) contains hundreds of medicinal substances—primarily plants, but also some minerals and animal products—classified by their perceived action in the body. Different parts of plants such as the leaves, roots, stems, flowers, and seeds are used. Usually, herbs are combined in formulas and given as teas, capsules, tinctures, or powders.
- Acupuncture. By stimulating specific points on the body, most often by inserting thin metal needles through the skin, practitioners seek to remove blockages in the flow of qi.
Other TCM therapies include moxibustion (burning moxa—a cone or stick of dried herb, usually mugwort—on or near the skin, sometimes in conjunction with acupuncture); cupping (applying a heated cup to the skin to create a slight suction); Chinese massage; mind-body therapies such as qi gong and tai chi; and dietary therapy.
Traditional Chinese medicine and cancer
This 2019 Review published in the journal Cancer Medicine concluded:
TCM‐based CHM [Chinese herbal medicine ] has increasingly been shown to exhibit promising therapeutic effects as an adjunctive treatment following surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or other types of therapy for cancer patients worldwide.
Traditional Chinese Medicine and Radiotherapy
This study says: Throughout the 21st century, numerous scientists have begun to administer TCM herbs as an adjunct to radiotherapy/chemotherapy for certain types of cancer…TCM has been shown to exhibit radiomodifying effects on tumors and normal tissues by in vitro and in vivo studies. A number of these agents are able to enhance the therapeutic gain of radiotherapy by acting as radiosensitizers to the tumor cells and/or as radioprotectors to normal cells. Botanical agents are comprised of multiple phytochemical compounds that may work individually or synergistically to not only improve the outcomes of radiotherapy, but also to induce a variety of anticancer effects.
TCM lowers risk of death for metastatic prostate cancer patients
In this study, 1132 patients with prostate cancer were enrolled. Compared with TCM nonusers, patients who use TCM for more than 50 days have a lower risk of death. The risk of death in patients who used TCM for 50 to 200 days and ≧200 days decreased by 31% and 39%, respectively. TCM users in the metastatic prostate cancer group had a significant better survival rate compared with TCM nonusers …The mortality risk in the localized or locally advanced and castration-resistant prostate cancer groups was not significantly different between TCM users and nonusers. The TCM formulae, Chai-Hu-Jia-Long-Gu-Mu-Li-Tang, had the most significant improvement in the survival rate of metastatic prostate cancer patients.
TCM reduces treatment side-effects
This study says: By reducing side effects and complications during chemo- and radio-therapy, these Chinese herbal medicines have a significant effect on reducing cancer-related fatigue and pain, improving respiratory tract infections and gastrointestinal side effects including diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, protecting liver function, and even ameliorating the symptoms of cachexia.
TCM may lower the risk of death in patients with advanced breast cancer
This study: A total of 729 patients with advanced breast cancer receiving taxanes were included in the current study. Conclusions: The results of the current observational study suggest that adjunctive TCM therapy may lower the risk of death in patients with advanced breast cancer
The use of CHM was associated with a higher 5-year overall survival
In this study Nine hundred eighty-five stage IV EC [esophageal cancer] patients were analyzed, including 74 CHM users and 911 non-CHM users. We found the use of CHM was associated with a higher 5-year overall survival rate than CHM nonusers…In addition, the overall median survival time was about 7 months longer among CHM users. Moreover, the lower 1-, 3-, 5-year disease-specific survival rates were higher among CHM users. Additionally, the risk of all-cause mortality was lower among CHM users …CHMs improved health while relieving tumor burden…while Fritillaria thunbergii Miq and Sevilla maindronide Rochebrune were used together to relieve cancer-related gastrointestinal discomfort.
CHM associated with longer survival in pancreatic cancer liver metastases
This study says: A previous clinical study showed that Chinese herbal medicine was an independent protective factor in patients with pancreatic cancer liver metastases. The OS [overall survival] was 5.4 months, and the 1-year survival rate was 21.9% for the TCM group, compared with a median survival of 3.9 months and 1-year survival rate of 4.8% for the non-TCM group. In our study, TCM herbal treatment did improve the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer. The patients in the TCM group had a longer median OS [overall survival] (19 months) than those in the non-TCM group (8 months; P < 0.001). In addition, the 1- and 2-year survival rates for the 2 groups were 54.9%, 38.2% and 30.4%, 6.6%, respectively. Remarkably, the 3-year survival rate of the TCM group was 24.4%, while no one in the non-TCM group survived over 3 years. These results suggested the survival benefit of TCM treatment in patients with pancreatic cancer.
CHM associated with longer survival in metastatic colorectal cancer
This study says:
In the present study, we investigated 222 patients with mCRC [metastatic colorectal cancer] to evaluate the efficiency of CHM [chinese herbal medicine] and identify the effective herbs that were closely correlated with survival…Among them, 78 patients received CHM treatment, and 144 patients received non-CHM treatment…Patients in the CHM group had a longer median survival time (40 months) compared with the non-CHM group (12 months). In addition, the 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 96.1, 84.3, 56.3, and 29.2% in the CHM group versus 46.3, 24.5, 13.8, and 7.3% in the non-CHM group, respectively.
Herbs used in Chinese herbal medicine
Here are the combined findings from the following Review Articles:
Naturally occurring anti-cancer compounds: shining from Chinese herbal medicine
Therapeutic Effects of Ten Commonly Used Chinese Herbs and Their Bioactive Compounds on Cancers
Artemisinins
The anti-cancer effects of ARTs [artemisinin and its derivatives] are demonstrated in a broad spectrum of cancer cells including lung, liver, pancreatic, colorectal, esophageal, breast, ovarian, cervical, head and neck, and prostate cancers.
Artesunate
The anti-cancer effects of artesunate have been demonstrated in bladder, breast, cervical, colorectal, esophageal, gastric, ovarian and prostate cancer, renal carcinoma, leukemia, melanoma and multiple myeloma.
Angelica sinensis (AS, Dang Gui in Chinese)
AS is often used in traditional Chinese medicine for cancer treatment and is an excellent choice for gynecological cancers such as breast cancer.
Astragalus membranaceus (AM, Huang Qi in Chinese)
In recent years, AM has attracted much attention because of its good anticancer activity. AM has an obvious inhibitory effect on cervical cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, and leukemia. AM can not only be taken as a single medicine but also used to synergistically enhance the efficacy of cisplatin.
Berberine
It exhibits significant anti-cancer effects in a wide spectrum of cancers including ovarian, breast, esophageal, and thyroid cancers, leukemia, multiple myeloma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and neuroblastoma, through inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, inhibiting metastasis and angiogenesis.
β-Elemene
It exerts anti-cancer effects in many cancers, such as lung, gastric, cervical, breast and bladder cancers, osteosarcoma, through apoptosis, inhibition of cell proliferation, migration and invasion, angiogenesis.
Curcumin
Numerous studies have shown that curcumin and its preparations can inhibit tumors in almost all parts of the body, including head and neck, ovarian, skin and gastric cancers. In recent years, curcumin has been proved to be an excellent natural compound against cancer, especially in the digestive system.
Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)
It is reported to present anti-cancer effects in variety of cancer cells, including lung, colorectal, prostate, stomach, liver, cervical, breast, leukemia, gastric, bladder cancers.
Emodin
Many studies have shown that emodin can attenuate numerous cancers including nasopharyngeal, gall bladder, lung, liver, colorectal, oral, ovarian, bladder, prostate, breast, stomach and pancreatic cancers, through the inhibition of cell proliferation and growth, metastasis, angiogenesis, and induction of apoptosis.
Ganoderma lucidum – (Reishi mushroom)(GL, Ling Zhi in Chinese)
GL polysaccharides can assist the anticancer effect of the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (PTX) and inhibit the cancer metabolic process in the cancer microenvironment. In addition to the direct killing of cancers, GL can also be used in immunotherapy against cancers.
Ginsenosides
Ginsenosides mainly exert anti-cancer effects in colorectal, breast, liver and lung cancers, through inhibiting cell proliferation and migration, angiogenesis, and reversing drug resistance.
Gambogic acid (GA)
Plenty of evidence shows that GA inhibits cell proliferation, invasion, survival, metastasis and chemo-resistance, and induces angiogenesis in many types of cancers such as gastric and prostate cancers, leukemia, multiple myeloma, osteosarcoma, and renal carcinoma through multiple signaling mechanisms.
Licorice (Gan Cao in Chinese)
Licorice is commonly used for cancer therapy of the digestive system, breast cancer, lung cancer, and so on. And it has the advantages of low price and wide distribution.
These estrogenic effects suggest that women with hormone sensitive cancers should avoid this herb.
Oldenlandia diffusa (OD, Bai Hua She She Cao in Chinese)
It is one of the most well-known Chinese herbs for its anticancer effect.
Oridonin
As an orally available drug, oridonin is demonstrated to have anti-cancer activities in multiple cancers over the past decades, including leukemia, lymphoma, osteosarcoma, myeloma, uveal melanoma, neuroblastoma, hepatocellular, laryngeal, esophageal, and oral squamous cell carcinoma, lung, colorectal, breast, gastric, pancreatic, and prostatic cancers.
Panax ginseng (PG, Ren Shen in Chinese)
Ginsenoside is the main active ingredient of ginseng…ginsenoside CK also has a good effect in inhibiting breast cancer invasion and metastasis.
American, Panax, and Siberian ginseng all have estrogenic effects; therefore, women with hormone-sensitive cancers should avoid these herbs (Eagon et al., 2000).
Panax notoginseng (PN, San Qi in Chinese)
In recent years, more and more studies have confirmed the efficacy of PN in the treatment of cancer, including the improvement of immunity and the destruction of the function of cancer cells.
Radix Salvia miltiorrhiza (SM, Dan Shen in Chinese)
Studies have shown that ethanol-extracted tanshinone significantly inhibits the activity of gastric adenocarcinoma, prostate cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung adenocarcinoma, respectively
Scutellaria barbata D. Don (SB, Ban Zhi Lian in Chinese)
The combination of Scutellaria barbata and Oldenlandia diffusa can enhance the anticancer effect of each other, which is the key point of anticancer herbs. It mainly treats digestive tract cancers, gynecological cancers, lung cancer, bladder cancer, and other cancers.
Silibinin
Previous studies have reported that silibinin exerts remarkable effects in numerous cancers such as renal, hepatocellular and pancreatic carcinoma, bladder, breast, colorectal, ovarian, lung, salivary gland, prostate and gastric cancers, through the induction of apoptosis, inhibition of tumor growth, metastasis and angiogenesis.
Shikonin
It is effective in treating different kinds of cancers, including breast, prostate, ovarian and thyroid cancers, Ewing sarcoma, and myelomonocytic lymphoma.
Tanshinones
Tanshinone exhibits anti-cancer activities in stomach, prostate, lung, breast, and colon cancers, through inducing cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, autophagy, and inhibiting cell migration.
Ursolic acid (UA)
It also exerts anti-cancer activities in ovarian, breast, gastric, prostate, lung, liver, bladder, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers.
Wogonin
It has various anti-cancer effects in many cancers, including lung, breast, head and neck, gastric and colorectal cancers, glioma, leukemia, lymphoma, and osteosarcoma, through the induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, and inhibition of cell growth, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis.
Danshen
This 2017 study of 56,965 colon cancer patients concluded: Danshen has protective effects in colon cancer patients. Red sage, or danshen, is an herbal medicine made from the roots of the red sage plant. It has a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine.
Others
Rhodiol
Dandelion
Salvia mitiorrhiza
Honokiol
Lion’s Mane
Kelp
Turkey Tail mushrooms
Shiitake mushrooms
Where can I get this treatment and more information?
TCM is widely available.
Page updated January 2025