To shrink tumors and detoxify the body are important approaches in TCM anticancer strategies, however, many ingredients are either too strong or toxic that they cannot be used internally. These include unprocessed herbs like:
tian nan xing
Jackinthepulpit tuber
Rhizoma Arisaematis
ban xia
Pinellia tuber
Rhizoma Pinelliae
chuan wu
Common Monkshood mother root
Radix Aconiti
teng huang
Resina Garciniae
xiong huang
Realgar
Realgar
Or herbs for activating blood and removing stasis like:
san leng
Common Burreed tuber
Rhizoma Spargani
e shu
Zedoray rhizome
Rhizoma curcumae
shui zhi
Leech
Hirudo
su mu
Sappan wood
Lignum Sappan
meng chong
Tabanus Bivittatus
Common Burreed tuber
Zedoray rhizome
Leech
Or herbs in pungent and warming properties like:
gan jiang
Fried ginger
Rhizoma Zingiberis
fu zi
Monkshood
Radix Aconiti
rou gui
Cassia bark
Cortex Cinnamomi
xi xin
Chinese wild ginger
Herba Asari
bi bo
Long pepper
Fructus Piperis Longi
Monkshood
Sappan wood
Chinese wild ginger
Local applications of medicinal substances mean that the active ingredients of certain preparations are absorbed through the skin and then onto the cancer site. Through the slow absorption process, there is less risk to develop general poisoning reactions, it also enables drugs to bypass the interference from the kidney and liver as well as avoid adverse stimulation on the intestinal tract. During application, physicians will change the base constantly so as to avoid local reactions like itchiness and rashes appearing.
