What is the “3C+P” for cancer treatment, what is the best service they can do ?

In this world, there are about 20 kinds of cancers, most of the cancer treatments from the hospital are chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which can cure cancer at early state or benign cancer, but there are a lot of side effect of chemo and radiation for cancer patients, which cause many symptoms of physical discomfort such as  nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea and hair loss and ect. At the same time, the white blood cells and blood platelet of cancer patients will decrease and the body immune function decline that lead to a plenty of negative emotion like anxiety, trouble and impatience...

The ability of chemo and radiation are not enough to kill the cancer cell of the middle-advanced cancer completely, they just act like a helper in the cancer treatment. For middle-advanced cancer, the doctor from Guangzhou Fuda Cancer hospital take a holistic approach to treating cancer. Cancer therapy goes much further than chemotherapy, radiation and conventional surgery. With the development of advanced science and technology and mature. Required new, more effected, curable advanced medical equipment and medical therapy to help people to decrease their pain and side effect when doing the surgery, the most important factor is to kill the cancer cell completely. Now,a brand new research show the new therapy and make good result for cancer patients and well known in the world, called “3C+P”treatment. This model is combined with four therapy methods to provide patients systemic comprehensive and personalized therapies.

What is the “3C+P” cancer treatment model?

3C: Cryosurgical Ablation, Cancer Microsphere Intervention, Combined Immunotherapy For Cancer.

P:  Personalized Cancer Therapy.

1. Cryosurgical Ablation

Using imaging guided techniques (Ultrasound, CT or MRI), cryo-probes are inserted into tumors to lower the temperature of the targeted area -160℃ or lower. Later the temperature is raised between 20 to 40℃. This process is repeated two or three times, resulting in complete ablation of the tumor.

2. Cancer Microsphere Intervention

One or several types of chemotherapy drugs are embedded to nano particles or sealed in them using a special technology. Using an image-guided micro-catheter, these nano particles containing minimal dose of chemical drugs are inserted into tiny capillary vessels supplying blood to the tumor. The chemotherapy drugs pass through the wall of the capillary vessels into the tumor. As more and more chemotherapy drugs are released into the tumor, cancerous cells are destroyed. Nano particles cannot pass through the compact walls of normal capillaries. Hence, chemotherapy drug   embedded/sealed inside nano particles will not cause damage to other parts of the body. Furthermore, the overall side effects to the body are reduced to a minimum. 

3. Combined Immunotherapy For Cancer.

CIC aims at raising and improving systemic immunological function of cancer patients to fight against cancer. Cancer cells display heterogeneity indicated by the presence of different gene sub-types within the same tumor. They also show variability and instability. They mutate from time to time. In fighting cancer cells, the systemic immunological treatment mechanism must be multiple attack and adjust its treatment strategy in time. CIC is the combination of several immune techniques to increase/stimulate systemic immune function. One such technique is to upgrade the function of T cells and/or B cells; another is to upgrade the function of DC, NK cells, macrophages and various kinds of cytokines. This combination of cells is able to destroy or inhibit cancer cells regardless of cancer and the variability/mutation of cancer cells. 

CIC includes cytotherapy of dentritic cells (DC), cytokine induced natural killer cells (CIK), immune irritant (low dose Naltrexone, LDN), cytokines, and Traditional Chinese medicine. They are applied jointly and sequentially. The main procedures are as follow: 

• On the 1st day: 60-80ml of whole blood are collected intravenously, and it is sent to laboratory for cell isolation and culture; in the evening, 2.5mg of LDN is taken orally each night, it will be used throughout the CIC treatment process;

• On the 2nd day: 0.5ml of MV is initially injected subcutaneously on shoulder or the area near the tumor. MV is injected weekly, and the dosage is from 0.5ml to 1.5ml depending on the injected local skin response. This is repeated for three weeks followed by a two-week break. The cycle is repeated for three months;  

• On the 4th or 5th day: 0.5 - 1ml of Interleukin II (IL-2) is injected on an acupuncture point, it is also used each week; 

• On 8th-12th days: intravenous re-infusion of the DC and the CIK, etc. 

4. Personalized Cancer Therapy.

Personalized cancer therapy, founded on the knowledge of cancer genome information and the mechanism of tumorigenesis, is a brand new model for cancer therapies. Nowadays, human being has entered an era of genome and researchers have different perspectives to contemplate the mechanism of tumorigenesis, cancer diagnosis and therapies. Up until now, we have known that each kind of tumor has its specific biological features and its heterogeneity features. Even suffered from the same kind of cancer, different patients would have different pathogenic factors, different mutational genes. Thus, personalized treatments for them are highly recommended. Personalized cancer therapies have now become an inevitable trend in the world of cancer treatments. According to each patient's gene information, doctors can give more accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment recommendations.

The difference between “3C+P” and Chemo&Radiation

1.“3C+P” will not cause damage to large blood vessels and trachea, and it is painless operation, it helps reduce the pain caused by cancer.

2. After cancerous cells are destroyed by CSA, dead cancerous cells will release antigens which will stimulate the immune system to eradicate any remaining cancerous cells and reduce re-occurrence of cancer.

3.Rapid result and few side effect, patients can return home 3-4 hour after treatment, with no hospitalization required.

4. It can improve the immune function of patients and good prevention of cancer recurrence.

5. For advanced cancer patients, who can be cued or live a long-term good quality life.

Living with cancer: my thought (the second part)

The inspiration from an academician

                                                           

                                                  By Xu Kecheng, Chief President of Fuda Cancer Hospital

In 2008, I met with a long-separated friend, academician Wang Zhenyi, who is the founder of the induction of differentiation therapy. He succeed in treating promyelocytic leukemia with retinoic acid, opened a new chapter in the history of cancer treatment. He said, “We need to make innovations in cancer treatment. Many therapies are novel, unique and scientific but the therapeutic effect is not that good. Why? The point is that the whole body and the immune system are not taken good care of. ” He asked me to seek advice from his student, Dr. Kong.

In May of that year, Dr. Kong and I ran through the streets of Shanghai by a rented car and visited 38 patients who once received a kind of vaccine injection in 1990s. They were advanced cancer patients who were once claimed to be hopeless. We were amazed to find that only 5 out of the 38 patients died of cancer itself and the rest of cancer patients all survived more than 5 years. It’s really difficult to spot each and every patient in such a big city of Shanghai. To find a nasopharyngeal melanoma patient, we managed to check his medical records at a major hospital in Shanghai. The medical record of his first hospitalization in 1991 showed that patient was hospitalized due to nosebleed. Operation record showed that the tumor that was adhered with surrounding structure was 7 cm in diameter. Only 70% of the tumor was resected. He received 32 sessions of chemotherapy but tumor remained the same size. The medical record of his second hospitalization showed that,”After discharge, patient received a kind of immunotherapy. In recent years, patient has been in normal condition until one month ago when patient had nosebleed again. Patient received relevant examinations upon admission and was found to have tumor recurrence.” The New England Journal of Medicine once covered a cancer patient who survived 2 years after receiving T cell-based immunotherapy, which has drawn the world’s attention. It was amazing that the patient we mentioned above should had had survived 12 years with cancer. As academician Wang Zhenyi has said it was the immune vaccine that has played an important role in his long-term survival.  

My visit to Indonesia

In May 2010, Ms. Lin, an ovarian cancer patient from Indonesia wrote to me and shared with me her joy of being able to survive for 7 years after receiving treatment. In 2002, she came to our hospital with her brother who is the owner of a factory in Zhuhai. At that time, her abdomen was distended and the lower abdomen was hardened like rock. She had undergone operation in Indonesian National Cancer Center. During the operation, the tumor was found to be located at the base of the pelvis and had metastasized to ovary, uterus, surrounding lymph nodes and intestines. She refused to receive chemotherapy as she did not want to suffer any more in her 60s. Later, she underwent percutaneous cryoablation and then surgical operation. After treatment, the tumor and metastases were almost completely removed. 

After read Ms. Lin’s letter, my colleague and I could not wait any more to fly to Jakarta and went to Ms. Lin’s home located at the western suburbs of Jakarta. She showed me her latest CT scan report and blood routine test, which showed that all indicators were within normal range.

Later on, I started my 10-day visit that covered a course of 5,000 kilometers in Indonesia. I paid visits to 27 cancer patients who had been treated at our hospital and tried to figure out the secret behind their long-term survival. There were still tumor present but none of them was confined to bed. As most of them are Chinese Indonesian, they hold great enthusiasm and gratitude to me. In a small town that is more than 300 kilometers away from Bandung, an 81-year-old lady who suffered from lung cancer insisted to accompany me to visit 7 patients one by one regardless of the fact that there were still two 

masses in her lung.

          My colleague and I paid follow-up visit to cancer patients who had been treated at our hospital

An old man from Jiangmen

I hold such beliefs that people can live with cancer and cancer is a controllable chronic disease. In August 2012, I led my team to pay follow-up visit to 145 advanced cancer patients, among which 98 were suffering from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCL), 37 were suffering from hepatocellular cancer and 10 were suffering from pancreatic cancer. There were 11, 12 and 1 patients respectively who have gained 3 year or more than 3 years survival time; 5-year survival rate was 7%, 22% and 10% respectively. One lung cancer patient and 2 liver cancer patients gained over 10-year-survival. Though the survival time seemed to be relatively short, all these patients were once claimed to have less half a year’s life expectancy.

Five years ago when I was giving a lesion in Jiangmen, I, at the invitation of the head of the Science and Technology Bureau, went to visit his 87-year-old father in Xinhui that was 5 kilometers away from Jiangmen. Being diagnosed with lung cancer, his father was recuperating at home after being claimed to be untreatable. At that time, I suggested him to receive cryosurgery at our hospital. The tumor was too big to be completely ablated. This time when I was making follow-up visits in Jiangmen, I was told that the old man is still alive. I immediately decided to visit him. He was very happy to see me and showed me his latest imaging slides, which showed there were still few masses in the left lung. But he told me he was very happy to see his great-grandson. The old man, who once served as the director of Jiangmen Pharmatheutical Factory, said with a smile, “I’m a cancer survivor who is able to live with cancer.”

The appreciation from Indonesian health minister

In November 2010, to practice the concept of living with cancer, we accepted a patient whose treatment had a bearing on our national honor. One Sunday, I got a phone call from Indonesia, telling me “to prepare to admit a patient tomorrow afternoon”. The next day, the patient, then health minister of Indonesia, was admitted into our hospital. We wondered why a minister who was in charge of the health undertakings of 300 million populations decided to come to our hospital for treatment. She said, “I’m diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Time is a luxury for me now. But I still have missions to be accomplished. I want to live with cancer and to make doctors reachable at all villages in Indonesia. ”

The power of will is boundless. The health minister from a foreign land underwent “3C+P” treatment.

With the residual tumor in her body, she never stopped working. In the subsequent WHO conference, she extended her appreciation to Chen Zu, then health minister of China. Hence, health minister Chen Zu praised us for having “created a brand name” and “won honor for the country”. In my opinion, the brand name he mentioned is the concept of living with cancer.

On February 8, 2013, I received an email from academician Tang Zhaoyou, who sent me his New Year greetings to me. He said in the email, “After my visit to your hospital, I have been feeling more strongly that you have blazed a new trail in cancer diagnosis and treatment. In the past, we emphasized that development is of great importance. Now, we would say, transformation is also of great importance. In fact, only by making transformation can we make breakthrough in the cause of cancer treatment. However, there is no end in making transformations. You have broken a new path in clinical research of tumor, which, I believe, will bring benefits to more cancer patients…” Also attached in the email was a photo of academician Tang and his wife Prof. Li Qisong. Prof. Li, my mentor in digestive disease, was diagnosed with breast cancer few years ago. I missed her so much at the sight of the photo.

From left to right: academician Tang Zhaoyou, his wife Prof. Li Qisong, my wife Prof. Ruan Rongling and me

That year, I celebrated the Spring Festival at my home in Shanghai. On the second day of the Chinese lunar year, I visited academician Tang’s home located at Yuyuan Road. The couple who are in their 70s were happy to meet me and offered me tea. Academician Tang introduced to me Prof. Li’s condition: she received lumpectomy; immunhistochemistry showed ER (-), PR (-), HER (+); she received no chemotherapy but two times of Herceptin, which had to be stopped due to severe side effects it had caused. As an expert in traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine, Prof. Li prescribed Chinese herbs for herself. Academician Tang give me a book Clinical Oncology edited by him. Holding the 1987-page great work, I jokingly asked, “Are you treating yourself with each and every method mentioned in the book?” They laughed upon hearing me asking that. Academician Tang said, “Just like the path of transformation I have mentioned, she can be counted as a case of living with cancer.”

 The road of transformation of the academician

In May 2013, academician Wu Mengchao attended the 2^nd International Forum on Cancer treatment hosted by our hospital. As a great master in the field of cancer treatment, he is reputed as the father of hepatobiliary surgery in China. He has been paying great attention to the development of Fuda Cancer Hospital as the honorary president of FUDA. He went to visit patients as soon as he arrived at the hospital. He met with an Indonesian patient who was suffering from nasopharynx cancer with tens of metastases all over. In the past 10 years, he has been hospitalized at FUDA for treatment for 28 times. Last year, the hospital held a “Birthday Party” to celebrate his living with cancer for 8 years. As a Malaysian Chinese, Wu Mengchao has special feelings to patients from Southeast Asia. After learned the patient’s anti-cancer treatment experience, he hold his hands tightly, saying “How nice it would be if all advanced cancer patients would live with cancer like you!” The next day, Wu Mengchao, in his 90s, delivered a 40-minute speech with the theme on “making innovations and treating cancer as a chronic disease”.

              In May 2015, academician Wu Mengchao is delivering speech on the 2^nd International Forum on Cancer Treatment organized by FUDA

Bill claimed FUDA to be the No. 1 in the world

On April 11, 2015, experts at home and abroad gathered at FUDA for the 2^nd (Guangzhou) International Forum on Minimally Invasive Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer. As the organizer of the forum, Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital invited Prof. Vay Liang W. Go (Bill) of UCLA. He is an internationally renowned digestive disease expert who specializes in pancreatic cancer. He is also the only Asian expert in the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition in America. We have been acquainted with each other for over 20 years. As an old friend, he always brought me black chocolate, saying eating black chocolate could prevent heart disease. However, his academic persistence has made me realize his rigorousness.

Five years ago when he attended a conference in Guangzhou, I seized the opportunity to present him a paper on cryosurgery for pancreatic cancer, hoping to get it published on the magazine Pancreas, for which he served as the editor-in-chief. He refused my request politely, saying that “Let’s talk about it three years later.” He is a man of his word. Since 2013, 4 of our papers on cryosurgery have been accepted and published in the magazine he serves for. This time, he came to Guangzhou for a conference and paid a visit to our hospital one day early. He visited Huang Guangwen who suffered from multiple endocrine neoplasia, whose case was reported on the magazine Pancreas. Huang Guangwen is a young man from Malaysia and at that time he was serving as a volunteer in the hospital. His case was similar to but seemed to be more complicated than that of Steve Jobs. In 2010, his blood glucose was 1.4 mEq and convulsions and coma attacked him almost every day. After received cryosurgery, he had increased blood glucose instantly and had it maintained within normal range as of today. Though no pancreatic tumor recurrence is noted, masses are still present in the liver, adrenal gland, abdominal cavity and thoracic cavity.

Prof. Bill had been very excited during these days. He checked the medical record of Gurli Gregerson, a pancreatic cancer patient from Denmark. As of now, the patient has survived for 7 years after received treatment at FUDA. He also checked the medical report of a British patient who had pancreatic cancer with liver metastases. The lady was admitted into the hospital in 2013. She suffered from WDHA syndrome which was very rare. She had watery diarrhea for more than 20 times a day. When he was told that the patient was to come back for re-examination, Prof. Bill asked us to arrange thorough examinations for her and write an article about her treatment experience so as to get it published on the magazine Pancreas.

Prof. Bill went to the CT room and watched the process of cryosurgery on pancreatic cancer again before he left Guangzhou. He signaled me to sit down and said to me, “In recent years, I have been keeping a close eye on this hospital. Now, it’s fair to say that the concept of living with cancer you have been advocating is correct.” He also approached Prof. Korpan, a cryoablation expert from Austria and asked him to sit down. He said to me, “You have done an incredible job to do cryosurgery for pancreatic cancer patients and prolong their lifespan. Neither America nor Japan has made it. Your hospital can be said to be the No.1 in the world in this regard.”

As an old saying goes in China, the patterns of shoes don’t have to be the same as long as the shoes fit the feet. The concept of living with cancer takes not only the patient into consideration but also the tumor itself. The concept not only accords with the nature and evolvement of cancer but also meets the expectations and appeal of patients. In the fight against cancer, living with cancer should be the main melody.

                                                                                                    ——Extracted from Living with Cancer  

Xu Kecheng: chief physician, doctoral supervisor, chief president of Fuda Cancer Hospital, former president of International Society of Cryosurgery, laureate of Norman Bethune Medal, laureate of Role Model of the Times, chairman of Guangdong Provincial Light of Life Society for Cancer Rehabilitation, the 5^th National Moral Model Award Nominee.

Acupuncture & Moxibustion Treatment Of Cancer In China

Acupuncture & Moxibustion: An Introduction

                                                                     Edited by Dr. Yong Chen,

                                      Integrative Medical Center, 6th Floor, Fuda Cancer Hospital

Acupuncture and Moxibustion are among the oldest healing practices in the world. The therapies of Acupuncture and Moxibustion have a long history.
In its 2500 years of development, a wealth of experience has been accumulated, attesting to the wide range of diseases and conditions that it can effectively treat. In the United States, where practitioners incorporate healing traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries, Acupuncture is considered part of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The practice of Acupuncture and Moxibustion are based on the theory of the Meridians. According to this theory, qi (vital energy) and blood circulates in the body through a system of channels called meridians, connecting internal organs to external organs or tissues. By stimulating certain points of the body surface reached by meridians through needling or Moxibustion, the flow of qi and blood can be regulated and diseases are thus treated. These stimulation points are called acupuncture points, or Acu-points.

Key Points

※ Acupuncture and Moxibustion have been practiced in China and other Asian countries for thousands of years.
※ Scientists are studying the efficacy of Acupuncture and Moxibustion for a wide range of conditions.
※ Relatively few complications have been reported from the use of acupuncture or Moxibustion. However, Acupuncture and Moxibustion can cause potentially serious side effects if not delivered properly by a qualified practitioner.
※ Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.

The term "acupuncture" describes a family of procedures involving the stimulation of anatomical points on the body using a variety of techniques. The acupuncture technique that has been most often studied scientifically involves penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are manipulated by the hands or by electrical stimulation.

Moxibustion is a therapeutic technique used in conjunction with acupuncture, acupressure, cupping and Chinese herbal medicine. It is one of the common practices in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The clinical method employs a burning moxa mugwort (Chinese wormwood, Artemisia vulgaris) directly over the skin at acupoints. Practitioners use moxa to warm regions and acupuncture points with the intention of stimulating circulation through the points and inducing a smoother flow of blood and qi.

Practiced in China and other Asian countries for thousands of years, acupuncture is one of the key components of traditional Chinese medicine.  Acupuncture became better known in the United States in 1971, when New York Times reporter James Reston wrote about how doctors in China used needles to ease his pain after surgery. American practices of acupuncture incorporate medical traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries. 

Acupuncture & Moxibustion Use in the United States

The report from a Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1997 stated that acupuncture is being "widely" practiced—by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners—for relief or prevention of pain and for various other health conditions. According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, which included a comprehensive survey of CAM use by Americans, an estimated 3.1 million U.S. adults and 150,000 children had used acupuncture in the previous year. Between the 2002 and 2007 NHIS, acupuncture use among adults increased by approximately 1 million people.

(Toast) Today, let’s express of best wishes to acupuncture, wish it long live. Please do not take acupuncture as something fusty. Acupuncture is not fusty, it is scientific. In future, every country in this world will need it.

 --Said by Mao zedong in 1955.4

Acupuncture & Moxibustion Side Effects and Risks

Relatively few complications from the use of acupuncture and moxibustion have been reported to the FDA, in light of the millions of people treated each year and the number of acupuncture needles used. Still, complications have resulted from inadequate sterilization of needles and from improper delivery of treatments. Practitioners should use a new set of disposable needles taken from a sealed package for each patient and should swab treatment sites with alcohol or another disinfectant before inserting needles. When not delivered properly, acupuncture can cause serious adverse effects, including infections and punctured organs. During moxibustion treatment, doctor needs to conmunicate with patients frequently. If patient feel too heat to bear, the doctor can move the moxa fire a litter far. 

Acupuncture & Moxibustion for Pain

Key Points

※ People use acupuncture for various types of pain. Back pain is the most commonly reported use, followed by joint pain, neck pain, and cancer pain.

※ Acupuncture and moxibustion are being studied for their efficacy in alleviating many kinds of pain. There are promising findings in some conditions, such as chronic low-back pain and osteoarthritis of the knee; but, for most other conditions, additional research is needed. In Fuda hospital, a fund to sponsor a research on Acupuncture and moxibustion for cancer pain is established.  

※ Acupuncture and moxibustion are generally considered safe when performed correctly.

※In traditional Chinese medicine theory, acupuncture and moxibustion regulate the flow of qi (vital energy) through the body. Research to test scientific theories about how acupuncture might work to relieve pain is under way.

About Pain

Pain is a feeling triggered in the nervous system. It may be sharp or dull, off-and-on or steady, localized (such as back pain) or all over (such as muscle aches from the flu). Sometimes, pain alerts us to injuries and illnesses that need attention. Although pain usually goes away once the underlying problem is addressed, it can last for weeks, months, or even years. Chronic pain may be due to an ongoing condition (such as arthritis) or to abnormal activity in pain-sensing regions of the brain, or the cause may not be known.

To relieve their pain, many people take over-the-counter medications—either acetaminophen or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, including aspirin, naproxen, and ibuprofen). Stronger medications, including NSAIDs in higher dosages and narcotics, are available by prescription only. People may also try non-drug approaches to help relieve their pain. Examples include physical and occupational therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, self-care techniques, and CAM therapies such as deep tissue massage or acupuncture and moxibustion.

Use of Acupuncture for Pain

Acupuncture, among the oldest healing practices in the world, is part of traditional Chinese medicine. Acupuncture and moxibustion practitioners stimulate specific points on the body—most often by inserting thin needles through the skin. In traditional Chinese medicine theory, this regulates the flow of qi (vital energy) along pathways known as meridians.

According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, which included a comprehensive survey of CAM use by Americans, 1.4 percent of respondents (an estimated 3.1 million Americans) said they had used acupuncture in the past year. A special analysis of acupuncture data from an earlier NHIS found that pain or musculoskeletal complaints accounted for 7 of the top 10 conditions for which people use acupuncture. Back pain was the most common, followed by joint pain, neck pain, severe headache/migraine, and recurring pain.

Acupuncture & Moxibustion for Nausea and Vomiting

To date, more than three dozen randomized controlled studies have been published showing that acupuncture point stimulation can treat or prevent nausea and vomiting.

While most acupuncture treatments are tailored to individual patients and are highly dependent on practitioner preference points, most acupuncturists and doctors of Oriental medicine appear to prefer using the P6 or Neiguan point, which is located two cun below the distal wrist crease on a patient's lower arm. (A cun is a Chinese measurement equaling the width of the middle joint of the patient's thumb; two cun equals approximately the width of three fingers.

Acupressure and moxibustion have also been employed to relieve the symptoms of nausea and vomiting, sometimes in conjunction with acupuncture, sometimes as a stand-alone therapy. Many practitioners prescribe acupressure bracelets, which apply pressure to certain points without the use of needles. And because the P6 point is easy to reach, many patients can be instructed to apply acupressure themselves to help reduce nausea.

Acupuncture Can Treat Fatigue Symptoms

It is estimated that over half of the American population experiences chronic or generalized fatigue. The most common causes are stress, insomnia and depression. Various malfunctions in the endocrine, cardiovascular and digestive body systems may also cause fatigue.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a disease affecting an estimated 1 million Americans. The cause of CFS remains unknown and is possibly a common endpoint of disease resulting from multiple causes. CFS is characterized by prolonged fatigue accompanied by a combination of symptoms, including musculoskeletal pain, cognitive impairment, headaches, and sleep disturbances.

There is no defined therapy or standard treatment for fatigue. Associated with depression, antidepressant medications are often prescribed for fatigue symptoms, which cause considerable side effects. Conventional therapies emphasize reduced stress, overexertion prevention, stretching, dietary modification, and nutritional supplementation.

Alternative therapies recommended for CFS and generalized fatigue include acupuncture for pain management, massage therapy and stretching/movement therapies (tai chi, yoga). Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) uses a combination of acupuncture, moxibustion, Chinese herbal medicine, and lifestyle changes (diet, exercise and meditation) to treat fatigue. Acupuncture is often integrated as a complementary therapy for patients with CFS.

Acupuncture and moxibustion effectively treats the various symptoms associated with fatigue and can strengthen a weakened immune system, enhance vital energy, nourish blood, and increase lymph circulation. Typically, a series of weekly treatments for 4 to 6 weeks is recommended, followed by progress assessment, to balance the immune system, reduce fatigue levels and increase functional capacity. Specific Chinese herbal remedies and dietary modification may be recommended. 

What acupuncture and moxibustion can do for cancer patients?

There is no terminology of cancer in ancient Chinese medical books. But practitioners in the Chinese history use acupuncture and moxibustion to treat various symptoms, such as pain, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, cough, bleeding, fatigue, fever, cold, irregular menstruation, low libido, excretal, which may also appeared in cancer patients. So, acupuncture and moxibustion can solve these problems to improve the quality of life for cancer patients. And the expense is cheap, the cost is not high. Immune dysfunction can contribute to the development and spread of cancer. Many researches have proved Acupuncture and moxibustion can stimulate and balance the immune system. Logically, acupuncture and moxibustion can prolong cancer patients’ life. However, because of lack clinical research, acupuncture and moxibustion are not recommended by doctors. This is partly due to new drugs can bring them more profits, while acupuncture and moxibustion not. So the research in this area is lack. The good news is that Fuda Cancer hospital is setting funds for this research. We welcome your brave participating. 

Living with cancer: my thought (the first part)

Living with cancer means people can enjoy a healthy and happy life even though there is tumor present.

By Xu Kecheng, Chief President of Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital

Some people jokingly compare living with cancer to dancing with wolf since they believe that cancer is like a maneating animal that should be annihilated. That might be the reason why we rarely win in the fight against cancer in recent decades. Scientists have invested strenuous effort and spent enormous amount of scientific research funds on the development of numerous types of drugs for cancer, which, however, are only able to decrease the mortality rate of few types of cancer instead of many other types of cancer.

Many people don’t have a correct understanding of cancer treatment. As bad people are turned from good people, cancer cells are also transformed (mutated) from normal cells. Hence, it’s only a fantasy to end cancer for good. It’s right to suppress cancer cells turned from normal cells, but simple annihilation is not the final answer. The best result would be reaching a state of coexistence between good cells and cancer cells.

Survival is the top priority

My understanding of living with cancer comes not only from my professional exploration as a doctor but also from the experience of my relatives who had suffered from cancer. In particular, I’m also a cancer survivor. Unlike a doctor who is happy to see from the CT scan that tumor shrinks, what I’m concerned about as a cancer survivor is that whether I can survive. Different from some doctors who can achieve a sense of fulfillment when they write a nice paper about the result of a randomized controlled trial-the survival time of treatment group is several weeks more than that of control group, I’m more concerned about how long I could survive and whether I could work and enjoy my life. Hence, I believe survival is the top priority

My understanding of living with cancer also comes from the inspirations I have drawn during my exchanges with colleagues and counterparts. I would like to thank my mentor and the masters for their constant care, support and guidance.

The cruel reality

In 1971 when I was still a resident doctor, my mother came all the way from my hometown to visit me one day. I was so surprised to see her distended belly. It was until then did I know that she was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer. Two and a half months later, she was gone forever.

The cruel reality prompted me to study cancer, the early diagnosis of liver cancer in particular. However, most types of cancer are at progressive stage upon diagnosis and most cancer patients passed away within a short period of time like my mother.

One day in early 1997, in the simple office of the former health minister by Beihai, Prof. Chen Minzhang, then health minister, said to me, “There will be more and more cancer patients in the future. I suggest you to establish a cancer hospital with the focus on prolonging patients’ lifespan.”He further added, “Try your best to introduce some new treatments that can help people live with cancer.”

                    Chen Minzhang, then health minister, (L) and Xu Kecheng in 1997

 It’s the first time that I had ever heard of the concept of living with cancer.

However, the next year, he died of cancer. “To prolong cancer patients’ life” has become the mission and the responsibility of doctors.

Argon-helium cryosurgery

 In 1998, the American FDA approved Argon-Helium Cryotherapy System for ablation of localized tumor. Like a starchaser, I flew to California, America and then went to Irvine, a beautifully landscaped city that is 100 kilometers away from LA, to visit the company that was manufacturing argon-helium cryotherapy system. However, I was not allowed to record but look at it as it is a high technology. Then I went to a hospital that was more than 100 kilometers away from San Francisco. A professor of Stanford University displayed to me the achievement they made in the application of argon-helium cryosurgery for liver cancer. I was very excited, hoping that the technology was exactly the new method that health minister Chen has predicted.

We became the first few medical teams in China to have introduced argon-helium cryotherapy system from America at that time. My counterparts and I established Fuda Cancer Hospital with the new method as a core treatment. 

We soon discovered that cryosurgery can replace surgical operation and even achieve radical cure for small tumor; it can deliver debulking effect for big tumors and even metastatic tumors. Debulking means if the tumor is unresectable, a part or the most part of the tumor can be resected through surgical operation so as to prolong patients’ life span. Cryosurgery seems to be able to deliver better debulking effect with the following reasons: firstly, cryosurgery can be carried out percutaneously, which minimizes the injuries made to patients; secondly, cryosurgery during surgical operation can better debulk the tumor; thirdly, a comparison of the long-term effect of surgical resection and cryosurgery on liver cancer found that few recurrence was detected after cryosurgery. It’s said after cryosurgery, very few basic growth factors will be generated as it will promote tumor recurrence; fourthly, research findings have shown that cryosurgery can induce an immunologic reaction (cryoimmunologic reaction) against cancer for eradication of residual or metastatic tumors.

 Fuda Cancer Hospital carried out cryosurgery rapidly first for liver cancer and then for lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. It has also developed from cryosurgery during surgical operation to image-guided percutaneous cryosurgery and laparoscopic cryosurgery.

                                                 Percutaneous argon-helium cryosurgery

The joy of patients

I had been worried if the new technology could bring actual benefits to our patients. In 2006, we held a gathering themed on “I want to live” at a small restaurant in Xingang West Road, Guangzhou when we had done 1,000 cases of cryosurgery. Many of our patients who have undergone cryosurgery came to the gathering and shared with the audience how they weathered it through.

Mr. Lu, an engineer from Yiyang City, Hunan Province, shared with us how he went through the 100 days given by the doctors. He was diagnosed with lung cancer and doctors at a local hospital said he had only 100 days to live. His wife and he were counting down his given days in tears every day. Fortunately, his well-informed nephew suggested him to come to our hospital for treatment. Mr. Lu said in tears, “I have lived through 600 days.”

 Mr. Tan is a young police officer from Yingde County that is over 100 kilometers away from Guangzhou. He once suffered from liver cancer sizing 13cm in diameter with ascites. He, who ever wanted to receive euthanasia, said, “I managed to survive. What a beautiful world it is!”

Our youngest patient Ming Zai has become a handsome boy today. More than 5 years ago, Ming Zai was once on the verge of death as he could not eat and speak due to the giant tumor in the neck. He was suffering from malignant teratoma, a congenital tumor. Currently, we cannot say that he is free of cancer but he is able to enjoy a normal life and go to school like a healthy child.  

 The joy and experience of patients have moved all the participants. Several experts from other hospitals spoke out their ideas. The director of the Department of Chemotherapy of a general hospital said, “As a doctor, we should put our patients in the first place. In the past, whatever the case is, we would always adopt chemotherapy for patients.” The director of the Department of Radiology of an affiliated hospital to a famous university said, “The same to us. We have always been suggesting patients to do chemotherapy. We shouldn’t simply think of killing cancer cells regardless of patients’ quality of life. It seemed that people can live with cancer.”

 I believe I can live with cancer

In early 2006, I was diagnosed with liver cancer. I underwent tumor resection and the pathological result showed cholangiocarcinoma, the malignancy of which was much higher than that of hepatocelluar carcinoma. A literature focusing on cholangiocarcinoma among Chinese showed that the 5-year-survival rate is 5%; both chemotherapy and radiotherapy cannot improve the survival rate; what’s worse is that it tends to metastasize at early stage. To survive, I must hold a different way of thinking and strategy. I drawn up for myself a rehabilitation programme that include immunotherapy, nutrition support, and exercise. I firmly believed that I can live with cancer.

                                                                                                 ——Extracted from Living With Cancer

Xu Kecheng: chief physician, doctoral supervisor, chief president of Fuda Cancer Hospital, former president of International Society of Cryosurgery, laureate of Norman Bethune Medal, laureate of Role Model of the Times, chairman of Guangdong Provincial Light of Life Society for Cancer Rehabilitation, the 5^th National Moral Model Award Nominee.