The current trend in China is to integrate, or combine, Western
therapies with TCM [Traditional Chinese Medicine] in the treatment of
breast cancer. There are no available statistics on the proportion of
women using this approach. Our collaborators in China estimate that
about 70%-80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the
metropolitan areas, where Western medicine (WM) is favoured, are using
the combined approach at some point during their treatment of breast
cancer while a very small fraction of women use TCM as a sole
therapy … The treatments employed by the TCM physicians are aimed at
controlling side effects and toxicities attributed to cancer
therapies, improving quality of life, preventing recurrence, and
prolonging survival.

This is likewise my experience of cancer care in the People’s Republic of China across the board. Zhang Dai-zhao, a famous Chinese oncologist and author of The Treatment of Cancer by Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine, says that integration in treatment means “the organic cooperation between Chinese medical therapy and Western medicine by bringing the strong points of both parties into full display …”  Although this may not be the most elegant English, I believe it underscores the fact that Chinese and Western medicine can beneficially complement each other when it comes to the treatment of cancer. In fact, most issues of Chinese medical journals published in China contain at least one article describing a clinical trial utilizing integrated Chinese-Western medicine (zhong xi yi jie he) in the treatment of various cancers. As an example of this relatively voluminous but also relatively unknown literature (at least in the West), I would like to present a summary of an article by Zhang Liying, et al. recently published in Shi Yong Zhong Yi Nei Ke Za Zhi (Journal of Practical Chinese Medical Internal Medicine. 2006;1:53-43). The title of the article was “Clinical Observations on San Shen Tang (Three Sengs Decoction) in Oncological Radiation Therapy.” However, before immediately proceeding to that article, I would first like to say something about the process of radiation therapy and its adverse reactions or side effects.

How Radiation Works in Oncology

Radiation therapy, a.k.a. radiotherapy, is a highly targeted, highly effective way to destroy cancer cells. In radiation therapy, high-energy beams of radiation are focused on the cancer or the area from which a cancer has been previously removed surgically. Over time, this focused radiation damages cells that are in the path of its beam. These include both cancer cells and normal cells. However, cancer cells tend to grow and reproduce rapidly–two activities that are very vulnerable to radiation damage. In addition, because cancer cells are less well organized than healthy cells, they are less able to repair such damage and recover. Therefore, cancer cells are more easily destroyed by radiation, while healthy, normal cells typically repair themselves and survive.

Side Effects of Radiation

Because radiation is a local treatment, its side effects usually appear in the area being treated. The early effects of radiation may be seen a few days or weeks after the start of treatment and may continue for several weeks after treatments are completed.  Side effects include fatigue, bodily weakness, anemia, leukopenia, bone marrow suppression,  dryness, itching, darkening, and peeling of the skin, dryness, loss of taste, and inflammation of the lining of the mouth, memory loss, decreased sexual desire, or poor tolerance for cold weather (due to radiation of the brain), shortness of breath or cough (due to radiation of the chest), swelling and inflammation of the esophagus, stomach or intestines, causing nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea (due to radiation of the abdomen), vaginal tenderness and inflammation, thinning of the vaginal lining, and bleeding after intercourse (due to radiation of the pelvis in women), and erectile dysfunction (due to radiation of the pelvis in men).  According to Chinese medical theory, these side effects are due to damage by externally contracted heat causing  the accumulation of heat toxins,  qi vacuity, and  yin-blood-fluid-essence insufficiency.

Cohort Description

Altogether, there were 130 patients enrolled in the above-mentioned, two-wing comparison study: 78 males and 52 females, 36-84 years of age. These patients had an average age of 63.5 years. Twenty-seven suffered from lung cancer; 13 suffered from nasopharyngeal cancer; 31 suffered from esophageal cancer; seven suffered from stomach and/or colon cancer; 21 suffered from breast cancer; three suffered from kidney cancer; five suffered from malignant lymphoma; 14 suffered from various gynecological cancers, including ovarian, cervical, and uterine cancers; and nine suffered from various other cancers. Thirty-nine of these patients were post-surgical. Six were stage I; 23 were stage II; 67 were stage III; and 34 were stage IV. These 130 patients were randomly divided into a single therapy group and a combined therapy group. The 57 patients in the single therapy group were only treated with radiation therapy, whereas those in the combined therapy group received the same radiation plus internally administered Chinese herbal medicine.