Combination of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine in the treatment of liver cancer

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and western medicine have their own priorities in the cancer treatment and they focus on tumor eradication and tumor-host modulation, respectively.As a palliative treatment, TCM is a choice for the liver cancer patients who could not tolerate surgery or interventional therapies and aims to improve their life quality and prolong their life time.In the adjuvant context, TCM could help patients to recover after other therapies, to minimize disease recurrence, and to prolong patient's survival time.Our experimental studies revealed that a 5-herbal compound "Songyou Yin" could decrease tumor metastasis after chemotherapy or palliative resection and could prolong the life time of tumor-bearing mice by antiangiogenic and anti-invasive mechanisms.In clinical practice, we should pay attention not only to the usage of traditional Chinese drug but also to the theory of TCM.The establishment of the platform of combination of TCM and western medicine is also in need.