Herbs have strong concept of holism, which can take the whole characteristics of patients with cancer into consideration, but not only restrict to cancer itself. For most patients with cancer, local treatment can not solve the problem from the bottom. Cancer itself can grow from many parts of the body and cancer often relapses, so treating cancer from the whole is necessary. Besides, local treatment can not solve the problem of cancer metastasis. While herbs can treat cancer both from the disease and the human, so herbs have their own advantages in the treatment for cancer.
Herbs have advantage in improving symptoms of cancer, which is quite different from that of other treatment methods. For example, operation treatment can cut the cancer, but sometimes it can bring dysfunction after operation and shows some new symptoms of cancer; the reactions and after effects of radiation treatment are obvious as well; chemo-treatment have distinct effects on alimental tract and hematopoietic system. After taking herbs for a while, the symptoms of cancer can be improved and the cancer itself can turn for better as well.
Herbs treatment cannot affect cancer patients' normal labor force, which is another advantage of herb treatment for cancer. In the process of treating cancer by herbs, the herb itself cannot produce new damage to labor force. And if the cancer turns for better, the labor force can recover gradually.
Exist treatments (chemo-treatment and radioactive treatment) for cancer can bring severe side effects to patients with cancer. But herbs nearly have no side effects at all. Of course, anti-cancer herbs, such as mylabris, merury and so on, have some side effects as well. The herbs which have strong toxicity are not advisable by doctors in the treatment for cancer.

The advantages in economics: low price
The advantages in preventing cancer: based on the acquaintance with the pathogen and pathogenesis of cancer, herbs can be used to prevent cancer in high risk group of cancer and decrease the incidence rate of cancer.

The Progress Herbs Make in the Treatment for Cancer
Adjuvant Treatment
1.Increase cancer cells' sensitivity towards chemo and radiation treatment
If some insensitive cancer cells such as stomach cancer cells and lung cancer cells can increase the sensitivity towards chemo and radiation treatment, it will greatly promote clinical effectiveness.
2.Reduce the side effects of chemo and radiation treatment
Generally speaking, after chemo and radiation treatment, patients with cancer show some side effects. If patients with cancer can use proper herbs, it can not only reduce the side effects of cancer, but also improve immune suppression, marrow suppression, neurotoxicity, damage to organs and other symptoms caused by chemo and radiation treatment. This is also the most common adjutant treatment by herbs in clinical.
3.Improve life quality by reliving pain
About 51% of patients with cancer have pain and 70% of patients in the late stage of cancer have strong pain, according to statistics. Herbs might not work as well as morphine, so doctors often use combined herbs and western medicines to relieve pain. Acid herbs can increase the absorption of antichloristic and increase the blood drug concentration. Though the herbs have slow effects on relieving pain, its effects can last for a long time and it can reduce the side effects of western analgesic. Herbs can be applied in the middle stage of cancer to relive patients' pain.
4.Improve immune and prevent metastases Many herbs work well in improving immune function. Besides, some herbs can activate macrophage phagocytic function.
Over the process of metastases, some herbs can prevent the hypercoagulation state and resist the metastases.

Active Treatment
Whether herbs can be used single in the treatment for cancer needs the complete human subjects' experimentation to prove. In recent years, cancer tends to be summed up in chronic diseases, so the treatment for cancer don't emphasize killing cancer cells, but increase the survival rate of cancer. In human experimentation, whether the drug works well or not depends not on the volume the drug can decrease cancer tumor, but if the drug can improve patients' life quality or not. Herbs can exactly improve patients' life quality and increase survival rate as well. More and more herbs have been used in clinical experiments. Herbs are gradually changing its role from a adjuvant treatment to active treatment.