Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) plays an important role in the immune therapy and overall individualized therapy. Its detoxification, softening and resolving hard masses are the equivalent of chemotherapy. Supporting healthy energy aims at strengthening the anti-tumor ability of the human body itself, which is equivalent to immunotherapy that can support other anti-cancer treatments and cancer self-extinction.
Traditional Chinese medicine is highly valued in other countries. According to one survey from 1997 to 2002, 48-88% of adult cancer patients had Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) in the United States, many of which received Chinese medicine, massage and acupuncture. Several major cancer centers in America, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI), MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston),
Memorial Sloan-Kettering (New York), Johns-Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore) and Mayo Clinic have their own CAM center. Their common experience is that CAM can improve patient’s mental state, reduce side effects of chemotherapy and improve patient’s quality of life.
Some foreigners show special preference for traditional Chinese medicine. I would like to share a story with you. Two years ago, I was invited to visit the Kraton of Jogyakarta in Java, Indonesia. The palace was built in 1756 and has a history of nearly two hundred and fifty years. After Indonesian independence, the government allowed the former Royal Family to continue living in the palace. Today it is the emperor, Hamongu Blono, Sultan X who is living in the ancient palace. His father Hamongu Blono Sultan IX once served as the Vice
President of the Republic of Indonesia. Hamongu Blono, Sultan X now supervises five provinces in the Yogyakarta region holding a high ranking position. His wife suffered from advanced breast cancer and received treatments at Fuda Hospital, recovering well after her treatment. He insisted on inviting me to visit the ancient palace perhaps to give his gratitude to our hospital. At 8:50 a.m. in the morning, my colleagues and I arrived at the reception room, the first thing we noticed was a photo of Sultan X and the Queen wearing the imperial robe. Since it was my first time to visit the palace, I inevitably felt a little bit nervous. At 9:00 a.m., the siding door opened and a middle-aged man dressed in a suit and tie quickly walked up to me, he greeted me with a firm handshake and pulled me to be seated with him. I looked at the Emperor, he was tall with a bronzed face, showing the modern typical elegance of a Southeast Asian. He looked like a different man from the photo of him dressed in traditional attire on the wall. After exchanging greetings, he talked to me, in quite fluent
English about traditional Chinese medicine. He said me he believed in the efficacy of Chinese herbs and liked that there were not many side effects, adding that China is the most successful country in the world in applying herbal medicine. He said there were many special herbs in Yogyakarta, hoping to develop cooperation with China. The Sultan X held my hand again and said, “In twenty years, China will be one of the world's most powerful countries and there is no doubt that traditional Chinese medicine will move towards the rest of the world.”(Figure 14)
The Sultan wasn't wrong, Chinese traditional medicine has already received worldwide recognition for treating acute promyelocytic leukaemia with arsenic trioxide (As2O3) derived from Realgar. At least two types of traditional Chinese medicine have had success in fighting cancer.
Artemisinin
The active medicinal ingredient Artemisinin extracted from the plant Artemisia Annua (wormwood) has a 100% inhibition rate
towards the Plasmodium Falciparum malaria parasite. Artemisinin and related derivatives paved the way for treating malaria-infected patients around the world. Its inventor Tu Youyou won the respected ‘Lasker Award,’ commending the great contribution of Chinese specialists for their discovery of a new approach to malaria treatment in the world. (Figure 15)
The derivatives of Artemisinin mainly include dihydroartemisinin, artemether, arteether, artesunate and so on. In recent years, Artemisinin and its derivatives’ anti-tumor effects have attracted extensive attention worldwide and they have been incorporated into the Anti-cancer Drug Screening and Anticancer Activity Research Project by the American National Cancer Institute (NCI).
In 1991, Chinese scholars reported that artemisinin derivatives have selective cytotoxic activity on leukemia cells, liver cancer cells and gastric cancer cells. Later domestic and foreign research confirmed that artemisinin based drugs have therapeutic effects for leukemia, colon cancer, melanoma, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer. The University of Washington found that artemisinin had significant
killing effects on breast cancer cells. A study report published in ‘Life Science’ in the United States showed that artemisinin can kill almost all breast cancer cells within sixteen hours. In-vitro experiments confirmed that sodium artesunate had remarkable killing effects on cervical cancer cells, and nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells. Studies have shown that Dihydroartemisinin can be most effective in inhibiting the growth of ovarian cancer, and its anti-cancer mechanisms to promote apoptosis; Dihydroartemisinin can also be used as a chemotherapeutic
sensitizer that can significantly improve the efficacy of the first chemotherapeutic drug Carboplatin for ovarian cancer. It can also enhance cellular immunity and phagocytosis of macrophages as well as kill tumor cells and promote the secretion of interleukin-2 (IL-2).
Triptolide, TP
Triptolide beta-propiolactone (TP) also known as triptolide is one of the main active ingredients, it possesses the abilities of immunosuppression, anti-infection, anti-fertility, anti-tumor, anti-allergy and other biological activities. Clinically it is used for connective tissue diseases, kidney diseases, skin diseases and other diseases (Figure 16). In recent years the anti-cancer effects of TP have attracted widespread interest. Studies have shown that TP can block the cell cycle of tumor cells, and prevent invasion and metastasis of tumor cells, inhibit telomerase activity, scavenge free radicals and anti-oxidation, further cooperating with other anti-cancer drugs to inhibit tumor cell proliferation.