1 Professor Pei Zhengxue's Special Formula and Medicinal Modifications for Treating Liver Cancer and Its Complications

1 Professor Pei Zhengxue's Special Formula and Medicinal Modifications for Treating Liver Cancer and Its Complications

Due to the complex and variable clinical manifestations of liver cancer, there is currently no unified standard for syndrome differentiation and classification. Based on more than forty years of clinical treatment experience, Professor Pei Zhengxue, a nationally renowned expert in integrated Chinese and Western medicine, has formulated a proven prescription for treating primary liver cancer—Peishiruanganxiaopiwan. Pei's Soft Liver and Anti-Ascites Pill is a formulation developed by Professor Pei Zhengxue, a renowned expert in integrated Chinese and Western medicine and mentor, based on his specialized prescription for liver cancer—“Liver Cancer Formula”[6]—through continuous practice, refinement, and reorganization. The main ingredients include Bupleurum, raw turtle shell, pangolin scales, soapberry spines, Citrus aurantium fruit, Hedyotis diffusa, Scutellaria barbata, Sparganium stoloniferum, Curcuma wenyujin, white peony root, seaweed, kelp, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Astragalus membranaceus, and others. Among these, white peony root consolidates yin, softens the liver, and nourishes blood; while Salvia miltiorrhiza, Astragalus membranaceus, turtle shell, and tortoise plastron together enhance qi-tonifying, blood-nourishing, and yin-moistening effects. As stated in “Essential Readings of Medical Classics”: “When accumulation forms, it is due to deficiency of righteous qi, allowing pathogenic factors to take hold”; and in “Orthodox Surgery”: “Accumulation arises from deficiency of righteous qi; only when righteous qi is deficient does accumulation form.” Therefore, strengthening righteous qi eliminates accumulation, and eliminating accumulation reinforces the root. Bupleurum疏肝解郁 (soothes the liver and resolves depression), generates yang energy, and expels pathogenic factors; Citrus aurantium fruit理气解郁 (regulates qi and resolves depression), clears heat, and breaks up stagnation; Sparganium stoloniferum and Curcuma wenyujin both have the functions of promoting qi flow, eliminating accumulation, breaking up blood stasis, and relieving pain, collectively achieving the effect of promoting qi flow, activating blood circulation, and removing blood stasis. Turtle shell, pangolin scales, soapberry spines, seaweed, and kelp all have the effects of softening hard masses, removing blood stasis, and dispersing nodules. Hedyotis diffusa and Scutellaria barbata are both clearing-heat and detoxifying herbs; modern pharmacological studies show that ursolic acid, an active ingredient in Hedyotis diffusa, has anti-mutation, anti-cancer-promoting, antioxidant, anti-angiogenesis, and cancer cell differentiation-inducing activities, demonstrating its anti-tumor efficacy. Overall, the entire formula works to strengthen righteous qi and reinforce the root, promote qi flow and activate blood circulation to remove blood stasis, soften the liver and disperse nodules, and clear heat and detoxify.

More than forty years of clinical practice have repeatedly demonstrated that “Pei’s Soft Liver and Anti-Ascites Pill” (i.e., the “Liver Cancer Formula”) not only has definite therapeutic effects on primary liver cancer but also shows significant efficacy in treating esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, and other malignancies. Professor Pei Zhengxue advocates disease-specific treatment with dedicated prescriptions and medicines, which is highly targeted and represents an important approach in traditional Chinese medicine for treating liver cancer, fully leveraging the strengths of our national medical tradition. It also aligns with the sixteen-point guideline proposed by the professor many years ago: “Western diagnosis, TCM syndrome differentiation, TCM as the mainstay, Western medicine as an adjunct.” According to incomplete statistics gathered during my time assisting the professor in clinical practice, the Soft Liver and Anti-Ascites Pill has cured 13 cases of primary liver cancer, 5 cases of gastric cancer, and 15 cases of small liver cancer. Pei’s Soft Liver and Anti-Ascites Pill takes “strengthening righteous qi and reinforcing the root” as its overarching principle, focusing on overall regulation of the body to varying degrees improve immune deficiency, thereby achieving clinical efficacy. The TCM principle of “strengthening righteous qi to eliminate accumulation, and eliminating accumulation to reinforce the root” shares striking similarities with modern immunology, molecular biology, genomics, and other fields[7]. This experiment specifically examines the therapeutic effects of the Soft Liver and Anti-Ascites Pill on primary liver cancer from the perspective of cellular immunity.