Editor’s Note: Primary liver cancer is currently the 4th most common malignant tumor and the 2nd leading cause of cancer-related death in China, posing a serious threat to the life and health of the Chinese people. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has extensive clinical experience in treating primary liver cancer, using a syndrome differentiation approach at different stages of the disease based on its etiology and pathogenesis. At the recent “25th National Academic Conference on Traditional Chinese Medicine for Hepatobiliary Diseases” organized by the Hepatobiliary Disease Branch of the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Professor Chunjun Xu, chairman of the Hepatobiliary Disease Branch, gave an exclusive interview with Hepatology Digest to discuss the treatment of primary liver cancer with TCM. Here is a compiled version of the interview for our readers.
Hepatology Digest: The annual National Academic Conference on Traditional Chinese Medicine for Hepatobiliary Diseases held by the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine is always highly anticipated by experts and scholars in the field. As the chairman of this year’s conference, could you introduce the conference’s arrangements and highlight its key content?
Professor Chunjun Xu: The annual conference emphasizes innovation and heritage. Over the past eight years, the Hepatobiliary Disease Branch has achieved outstanding results, conducting several branded activities such as “Famous Doctors Pass on Classics to Young Scholars,” “Famous Doctors Demonstrate Ward Rounds,” and youth speech contests. These activities have greatly contributed to the academic growth of young and middle-aged doctors.
Since last year, we have been contemplating issues related to innovation and heritage in TCM. In terms of innovation, we not only need to consider the development of TCM itself and the directives of the central government on the inheritance and innovative development of TCM but also align with the top-level design of the General Association. This year, we highlighted two aspects in the conference setup.
The first aspect is the heritage of TCM characteristics. As a traditional Chinese culture with thousands of years of history, TCM needs to leverage its unique features. We need to provide a platform for young doctors. In my teaching work at the hospital, I have found that young doctors, in addition to their clinical work and experiments, are very concerned about the application of TCM theories and techniques during their mentorship. Therefore, we integrated advantageous resources and set up a forum for the inheritance of TCM, inviting renowned TCM experts to elaborate on their thoughts.
The second aspect, following the academic guidance requirements of the General Association, involves combining the experiences of other branches, learning from their strengths, and promoting our advantages to other branches while welcoming their evaluation. The country now places great emphasis on new productive forces and high-quality development. Therefore, this conference included a special forum on the transformation of achievements. It was the first time for our branch to hold such a forum. We also provided platforms for hospitals and enterprises to understand the latest research outcomes in the field of hepatobiliary diseases, combining clinical needs to help enterprises achieve results transformation, ultimately benefiting a wide range of patients.
Hepatology Digest: From the perspective of TCM, how do you understand the pathogenesis of primary liver cancer? How does TCM treat primary liver cancer?
Professor Chunjun Xu: In the 1980s, people were very fearful of liver cancer. With the development of medicine and better understanding of the disease, early-stage liver cancer can now be detected. The factors contributing to cancer formation are extremely complex, including changes in lifestyle, diet, and psychological factors, all of which can impact the body.
The “Huangdi Neijing” states, “When the righteous qi is stored within, evil cannot invade; if the evil gathers, the qi must be deficient.” This highlights the importance of maintaining “righteous qi” in disease treatment. In terms of pathogenesis, health and disease are seen as different states of the struggle between righteousness and evil.
In the early stages of primary liver cancer, evil qi predominates, leading to a battle between righteousness and evil, eventually forming liver cancer. At this stage, “deficiency in origin and excess in superficiality, deficiency of righteous qi” is the main characteristic, and treatment emphasizes “supporting righteousness.” Based on syndrome differentiation, we focus on the common aspects of disease occurrence and development. Methods such as supporting righteousness and eliminating evil, promoting blood circulation and resolving phlegm, harmonizing qi and blood, and regulating the spleen and stomach can effectively alleviate clinical symptoms, significantly improve quality of life, and prolong survival. Additionally, understanding patients’ psychological feelings and helping them establish a psychological defense to prevent further cancer development is also part of “supporting righteousness.”
To advance the TCM hepatology discipline, we must keep up with the times. Given the disease characteristics of liver cancer, modern medical techniques such as radiofrequency ablation and interventional therapy have their advantages in treating liver cancer. Therefore, we combine TCM methods of “supporting righteousness and eliminating evil” with modern medicine to improve patient survival quality through integrated TCM and Western medicine treatment.
Hepatology Digest: It is well known that TCM does not treat a specific lesion but rather adjusts the entire body’s system. What TCM methods can be used to prevent liver diseases?
Professor Chunjun Xu: In TCM, disease prevention is conceptualized as “treating diseases before they arise.” The TCM concept of “treating diseases before they arise” includes preventing diseases before they occur, preventing changes in existing diseases, and preventing the progression of changes.
TCM emphasizes a holistic view and syndrome differentiation. When considering diseases, we look at aspects such as yin and yang, qi and blood, cold and heat, deficiency and excess. The holistic view in TCM regards the human body as an organic whole, emphasizing the close connection between humans and the natural environment, and advocates the idea of “the unity of heaven, earth, and man.” The concept of treating diseases in TCM involves identifying the main contradiction, such as external pathogenic factors like wind, cold, summer heat, dampness, dryness, and fire, and internal emotional factors like joy, anger, worry, thought, sorrow, fear, and fright. By combining the four natures and five flavors of Chinese medicines through a specific principle of sovereign, minister, assistant, and courier, TCM can exert a positive effect on the entire body.
Hepatology Digest: As the chairman of the Hepatobiliary Disease Branch of the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, what major work has the branch carried out, and what achievements have been made?
Professor Chunjun Xu: Over the past year, the Hepatobiliary Disease Branch has achieved outstanding results in the six key areas set by the General Association. We have continued to carry forward and expand the influence of successful brand projects. For instance, last year’s speech competition involved participants from 24 provinces and cities, with over 150 contestants. We promoted excellent research outcomes to the Clinical Case Database of Chinese Medicine Achievements, showcasing the accomplishments of young doctors. We won awards in all six evaluations last year.
Additionally, we have carried out some routine work. In terms of party building, we strictly followed the requirements of the General Association in organizing related activities. To promote homogeneous diagnosis and treatment, we shared advanced knowledge with remote areas to improve grassroots diagnosis and treatment levels.
Our remarkable achievements are inseparable from the support of our superiors and committee members. In the future, we will work even harder, learn from the excellent experiences of other branches, and share our valuable experiences generously, fostering mutual exchange and promoting the development of the discipline.
Hepatology Digest: It is understood that you recently received the “Capital Labor Medal.” Do you have any work insights or experiences you would like to share with your peers or young doctors?
Professor Chunjun Xu: Receiving the “Capital Labor Medal” is both an honor and a humbling experience. This honor is a result of the Party’s cultivation and the support of my hospital and colleagues. Throughout my career, I have adhered to the teachings of the older generation of doctors: maintaining a calm mindset, treating the medical profession not just as a job but as a pursuit, and treating patients like family. This approach is conducive to patient recovery. I teach my students to diligently complete their duties and maintain their original intention as doctors, building on this foundation to strive for better development.
