In modern society, where Western medicine reigns supreme, some people firmly believe that Chinese medicine can help with cancer treatment, while others completely reject its efficacy. What supports both sides of the argument is often the experience of a few of their relatives and friends who have been treated with Chinese medicine, either effectively or ineffectively.
In fact, for any medical technology, to evaluate whether the treatment is effective for cancer, it is not enough to cite cases with good results (or lack thereof). Rigorous research methods and follow-up results over a long period of time (generally more than five years) are required to analyse whether the treatment is effective or not. In particular, the long-term mortality rate of more than five years can show whether a treatment can really help patients extend their lives.
Current research has found that Chinese medicine has a good effect on many types of cancer, including stomach cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, acute myeloid leukaemia, chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, breast cancer and prostate cancer. Moreover, these are all large-scale studies that have been followed up for many years, involving hundreds or even more than a thousand people. The relevant research reports are listed below:
A rigorous medical research report published in the journal Medicine (Baltimore) in 2016 included 1,132 prostate cancer patients, who were followed up for an average of eight years from the time of diagnosis. About 60% of them received traditional Chinese medicine combined with standard Western medicine treatment, while the other 40% received only standard Western medicine treatment. The results of the study showed that conventional Western medicine treatment combined with Chinese medicine treatment can further reduce the mortality rate of prostate cancer patients. After being followed up for as long as 12 years, it was found that the Chinese medicine combined with Western medicine treatment group could have a 70% survival rate, while the control group that only received Western medicine treatment had a survival rate of less than 60%.
The study also found that if the Chinese medicine treatment lasts less than 50 days, the effect is not obvious. At least two months of treatment is required to significantly reduce mortality. Of course, during this period, the patient also receives regular Western medicine treatment.
A research report published in the journal Integrated Cancer Therapy in 2017 on acute myeloid leukaemia (a type of blood cancer) found that the efficacy of integrative Chinese and Western medicine treatment was far superior to that of Western medicine treatment alone.
In this 14-year retrospective study, 249 AML patients who received integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment were randomly selected as the experimental group, and another 249 AML patients who only received Western medicine treatment were used as the control group.
The results showed that eight years after the onset of the disease, the survival rate of the integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment group was 60%, which was much higher than the 30% survival rate of the Western medicine treatment group. Fourteen years later, the survival rate of the integrative Chinese and Western medicine treatment group was 50%, which was still much higher than the 30% survival rate of the purely Western medicine treatment. Among them, if the duration of Chinese medicine treatment is more than 180 days, the 14-year survival rate can be as high as 70%, which is significantly better than the 30% survival rate of those who only receive Western medicine treatment.
8-year survival rate |
14-year survival rate |
|
No Chinese medical treatment |
30% |
30% |
Chinese medical treatment for more than 30 days |
60% |
50% |
Chinese medical treatment for more than 180 days |
70% |
70% |
A research report published in the Liver International journal at the end of 2015 analysed the treatment of liver cancer in 30,992 patients in the experimental group who received integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment and 96,245 patients in the control group who received Western medicine treatment only. After being followed up for more than five and a half years, it was found that the hazard rate of death in the integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment group was only 65% of that in the control group.
A controlled study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology in April 2017 compared the effects of combined Chinese and Western medicine with those of Western medicine alone in treating the after-effects of hepatitis caused by chemotherapy and other cancer treatments in colorectal cancer patients. The experimental group of 155 colorectal cancer patients received both Western and Chinese medicine treatments. The control group of 155 colorectal cancer patients received only Western medicine treatments. The results showed that the hazard rate of hepatitis after five years for the experimental group of patients receiving integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatments was only 53% of that of the control group.
Published in May 2014, the American Cancer Society’s research report provides evidence on the effectiveness of combining Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of breast cancer. The experimental group in this report was a comparison of 115 late-stage breast cancer patients who received integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment with 614 control patients who received only Western medicine treatment. After 2.8 years of follow-up, it was found that the hazard rate of patients who received 30-180 days of Chinese medical treatment at the same time was only 55% of that of the control group. For patients who received Chinese medical treatment for more than 180 days, the hazard rate was only 46% of that of the control group.
In January 2016, a Cancer Magazine research report was published, analysing retrospectively 233 patients in the experimental group who received integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment for CML, and another 233 patients in the control group who did not receive Chinese medicine treatment for CML. The results showed that the ten-year survival rate of the experimental group receiving integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment was 65%, which was much higher than the ten-year survival rate of less than 40% in the control group.
A research report on integrative Chinese and Western medicine for the treatment of gastric cancer was published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology in March 2017. The report studied 1,924 cases of patients diagnosed with gastric cancer who required surgery and chemotherapy or radiotherapy. 962 of these patients received integrative Chinese and Western medicine treatment, while the other 962 cases only received standard Western medical treatment. The research report shows that the 14-year survival rate of patients receiving integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment was 43%, which was much higher than the 14-year survival rate of 20% for those who did not receive Chinese medicine treatment.
