中西醫對癌症診療的認識

The Viewpoints of Modern Medicine and Chinese Medicine Toward the Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancers

周寬基(Kuan-Chih Chow) ； 陳光耀(Kuang Y. Chen)

《放射治療與腫瘤學》 1卷3期 (1994/09) Pp. 269-279

https://doi.org/10.6316/TRO/199401(3)269

摘要

在臺灣，癌病已逐漸成為嚴重危害人類健康的一種疾病，死亡率更居十大死亡原因的第一位，死亡人數約佔全年死亡總人數的五分之一。癌症對社會的影響更達“談癌色變”的地步，尤其是經濟狀况不甚好的家庭，不但得考慮是否負擔得起醫藥費，還得考慮如何面對和處理癌症病人的絕望、恐懼死亡的心情。
現代醫學對癌病的研究已長期投入相當大的人力和物力，對於癌病的起因已有逐漸的認識和瞭解；對於癌病的診斷，由於科技的進步，更有長足的進展；可是在治療上面，雖然現代科學文明發達，現存的方法如手術治療、賀爾蒙治療、放射治療、化學治療和免疫治療等，也只能治愈約百分之五十的癌症病人，這些病人還須是癌症早期的病人，大多數癌症的晚期病人仍死於癌症。
由於療效和預後偏低，治療費用高昂，以及治療過程的痛苦，大部分的病人，尤其是晚期癌症的病人，便會轉而求助於偏方、秘方、草藥、中藥或其他非傳統的方法。其實，傳統中國醫學在癌病的治療方面有獨特的看法，中草藥的抗癌成份，已有許多被分析出來；傳統中國醫學“固本培元”的醫療概念，對於减輕癌症病人治療過程的痛苦，和防止治療過程對病人身體、器官的傷害，更是不可忽視的。本文就現行癌症的病因、診斷與治療以西醫的理論與中醫的觀念做一分析和比較。

並列摘要

In Taiwan, the death rate of cancer patients has become the highest in the top ten lists of the death cause. The number of the death is about 20% of the total death toll. The influence of the cancer to the society, besides the death itself has almost reached the panic level. Because of its chronic property, the family afflicted not only has to consider the medical cost, but also has to face how to deal with the psychological despair and the thrill of the death.
Modern medicine has already invested a great deal of man power and money into the investigation of cancer and the cause of the cancer has been gradually unveiled. Also, because of the advances of modern technology, the diagnostic method of cancer has progressed enormously. However, in concern of the cancer treatment, the present methods such as surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and immunotherapy, can only beneifit about 50% of the patients. These patients also have to be the patients of whom the tumors were luckily discovered at the earlier stages. Those at the advanced stage were usually ended up with death.
Because the treatment efficacy and prognosis are low, the treatment cost is high and the procedure of the treatment is painful, a great portion of patients, especially those at the terminal stage, will then turn to seek help from the other way including the untraditional folk medicine. In fact, traditional Chinese medicine has its unique feature. The ingredients of many Chinese medicinal herbs have been purified and characterized. The treatment strategy and treatment plan that aimed at how to ”solidify the basis and nourish the origin” were novel to that of the modern medicine. Actually, the idea is wholesome and should be helpful for improving the effect of the modern treatment. The purpose of this paper is to compare and to describle the differences between the modern medicine and the Chinese herbal medicine, in hope to find a complementary way to the advances of the cancer research.