Chinese Medicine - Modern Practice (252 pages)

84 J. Liu
period are not satisfactory. Hence, prognosis of lung cancer is very poor.
About 80% of patients die within one year after being diagnosed. Median
survival period is about 6 months. Total survival rate of 5 years is only
5%-10% (Liu, 1996), and the therapeutic effect is not satisfactory. Its
death rate is the highest for all malignant tumours and it was the main
cause of death in the last 20 years (Li et al., 1997). Hence, early diagnosis
and early treatment were emphasised in recent years. It is recommended
that middle and advanced stage patients should be treated by combined
therapy with several subjects so as to improve therapeutic effect, prolong
survival period and increase quality of life. The study of therapy of lung
cancer with TCM or combination of TCM and Western medicine is
very important. In recent years, there is a trend to differentiate syndrome
and disease, strengthen the body resistance and eliminate the pathogenic
factor to treat lung cancer with TCM or combination of TCM and
Western medicine. These therapies have demonstrated positive results in
the remission of symptoms, improving living quality, stabilising focus,
prolonging survival period and increasing survival rate. Combined with
surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, TCM can also decrease side
effects and increase clinical therapeutic effects. Some progress has been
made in the fields of mechanism of the action of therapeutic effect with
clinical trials and animal experiments through modern scientific methods,
showing the importance of TCM in preventing and treating lung cancer.
7.2 Aetiology and Pathogenesis
The aetiological factor of lung cancer has not been clarified completely.
Some scholars study pathogenesis based on the relative recordation of
documents in all dynasties, and the genesis process and clinical situation.
These studies mainly include three aspects:
(a) Based on the theory of deficiency of vital-qi, the imbalance
between Yin and Yang of the viscera, and the deficiency of
vital-qi are the internal causes of illnesses, that is, “the vital-qi
is weak, and pathogenic factors invade into the human body”.
The deficiency of qi of the lung, spleen and kidney can all lead
to weakness of lung-qi. Prolonged smoking creates heat that