CAN the integration of conventional Western therapy and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) make a difference to cancer sufferers?
Renowned oncologist Professor Li Fu Min, who has been practising TCM for 39 years, believes it can.
A senior visiting consultant from the Immunology and Oncology Department of Singapore's IAG Health Services Medical Centre, he said that in China, Chinese herbal medicine was frequently used in tandem with traditional Western treatments of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery.
Li is head of internal medicine at the First Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine University and is also the recipient of China's Ministry of Health National Award for contributions to the advancement of science and technology in the field of medicine and public health in 1996. He was recently in Kuala Lumpur on the invitation of the Integrated Wellness Centre (IWC).
The IWC is an integrated healthcare establishment that offers TCM. In January, it joined forces with the IAG to form Malaysia's first TCM oncology centre at Starhill Gallery, Kuala Lumpur.
Li remembered someone in his care who had been undergoing conventional treatment and told he had six months to live.
Chinese herbs being
prepared for prescription.
He survived for four years by complementing his chemotherapy treatment with TCM.
Li said that taking the cue from China, there is an increased awareness of the beneficial effects of using TCM as a complement.
"TCM has yielded new methods of cancer prevention and treatment.
"Cancer cells grow and divide rapidly, and are invasive. While effective at killing cancer cells, traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy can cause changes to normal body functions and the immune system," he said.
"Anaemia, infections, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, stomatitis, and ulcers are just some examples.
"Other fast-dividing cells, like those responsible for hair growth, can also be affected by the treatment, resulting in hair loss," he explained.
"After numerous rounds of chemotherapy, the drug loses its efficacy. What Chinese herbs do is to make the body more receptive to chemotherapy by restoring sensitivity and making treatment more effective."
TCM concentrates on rebuilding the patient's natural immune system to fight harmful cells and also aims to minimise pain and discomfort caused by the cancer, or the chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
"TCM practitioners believe that cancer is a lifestyle disease determined by habits, diet, exercise and smoking.
"Medicine is prescribed to patients only after the overall symptoms are ascertained."
IWC chairman Ahmad Fizal Othman said that the IWC-IAG partnership would educate patients on the latest treatment methods and contribute to a positive patient experience.
IAG currently has patients from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, United States and Russia.
"Our clinic will also act as a follow-up centre for Malaysian cancer patients who are discharged from foreign hospitals.
"IWC is already collaborating with top oncologists who will jointly manage these patients from within Malaysia. A second medical centre is also being planned in Penang," Ahmad Fizal said.
This story was first published in the New Straits Times on Feb 2, 2009.
