Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) emphasizes 扶正 (fuzheng, Supporting the Right Qi), 祛邪 (quxie, Eliminating Pathogenic Factors), and 调脏腑 (tiaozangfu, Regulating the Organs) in cancer treatment. What do these terms mean? What are their respective therapeutic effects?
扶正 (fuzheng) means supporting
1. Helping patients restore their own 正气 (zhengqi, Right Qi) to enhance their constitution and improve immunity,
2. Adjusting the body’s 阴阳 (yin-yang) balance, coordinating the five organs, and eliminating carcinogenic factors within the body,
3. Causing cancer cells to reverse, thereby achieving the goal of anti-cancer treatment.
Supporting the Right Qi and tonifying deficiency is generally performed after surgery and during radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Post-surgery, cancer treatment often focuses on restoring Qi and blood; during chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the main concern is the damage to Qi and Yin, thus the focus should be on tonifying Qi and nourishing Yin.
When the condition stabilizes, patients may experience varying degrees of fatigue, mental exhaustion, loss of appetite, dry mouth, and other symptoms of both Qi and Yin deficiency, as well as fear, anxiety, insomnia, and vivid dreams. At this time, it is necessary to tonify 脾气 (piqi, Spleen Qi), nourish 心血 (xinxue, Heart Blood), and provide calming and stabilizing support.
What about 祛邪 (quxie)?
Director Huo Yongxing, a member of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association and a TCM oncologist at Yunnan Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital, explains:
祛邪 (quxie) refers to the removal of pathogenic factors or pathological products from the body to eliminate tumors or prevent tumor progression, achieving the goals of removing pathogenic factors, alleviating symptoms, reducing suffering, and controlling and dissipating cancer masses. Specific methods include clearing heat and detoxifying, activating blood and resolving stasis, and softening hardness and dispersing masses.
调脏腑 (tiaozangfu)
As for the adjustment of the organs in the TCM cancer treatment process, it isachieved through TCM therapy to restore the balance of Yin and Yang in the organs and restore their functional characteristics, as carcinogenic factors disrupt organ functions at the onset of cancer, and the organ functions are in a state of disorder after cancer develops.
Regulating the organs includes:
1. Regulating the liver and heart organs by soothing the liver and calming the heart to stabilize the mind;
2. Regulating the lung and kidney organs, focusing on tonifying Qi and relieving cough, and stopping bleeding;
3. Regulating the spleen and stomach by tonifying the spleen to assist in transportation, harmonizing the stomach to reduce acidity, and adjusting the functions of the stomach and spleen;
4. Additionally, soothing the liver and unblocking the meridians to adjust the liver’s function of dispersing and storing blood.
Clinical practice has proven that cancer treatment based on supporting the Right Qi and eliminating pathogenic factors, while regulating organ functions, can yield satisfactory clinical results, primarily reflected in the ability to enhance patients’ immune function, stimulate their own anti-cancer capabilities, curb recurrence and metastasis, and achieve the goal of treating the disease while preserving life.
