What is the most effective cancer treatment in China?

As an observer who has long tracked global trends in cancer prevention and treatment, I have traveled repeatedly between top cancer hospitals in China, the US, and Europe, seeking to understand the logic behind cancer care within different healthcare systems. When asked “What is the most effective treatment for cancer in China?”, I discovered there is no black-and-white answer—China's cancer treatment system is fundamentally a fusion of precision modern medicine and the wisdom of traditional medicine. Its “effectiveness” manifests both in the rapid adoption of cutting-edge international technologies and deep adaptation to the needs of local patients. The following analysis explores this from four dimensions.

I. Modern Medicine: An Internationally Aligned “Precision Arsenal”

The cornerstone of China's cancer treatment remains the globally recognized modern medical system. Whether in surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or the recent surge in targeted and immunotherapy, China's major cancer centers (such as the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Shanghai Cancer Center affiliated with Fudan University) have achieved world-class standards.

Take lung cancer as an example: Chinese physicians have mastered minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery for early-stage lung cancer, achieving five-year survival rates on par with Europe and the United States. For advanced non-small cell lung cancer, targeted therapies addressing driver gene mutations like EGFR and ALK (such as osimertinib) are adopted in sync with global standards. Due to China's large patient population, clinical data accumulation for these treatments has even accelerated. Even more noteworthy is the localized innovation in immunotherapy (such as PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors). Drugs developed by Chinese pharmaceutical companies, including camrelizumab and tislelizumab, have demonstrated superior efficacy compared to Western treatment regimens in “China-specific high-incidence cancers” like liver cancer and esophageal cancer. Related research has been published in top-tier journals such as The Lancet Oncology.

In short, China has not strayed from the mainstream of modern medicine. Instead, through rapid introduction, assimilation, and re-innovation, it enables patients to access cutting-edge international treatments in parallel.

II. Integrating Traditional and Western Medicine: Local Wisdom for “Reducing Toxicity and Enhancing Efficacy”

If modern medicine represents the “offensive,” traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays a unique “defensive” and ‘regulatory’ role in China's cancer treatment. This integration is not merely a simple combination of “TCM + Western medicine,” but rather a synergistic enhancement grounded in evidence-based medicine.

For instance, radiotherapy and chemotherapy often cause severe side effects like mucositis and bone marrow suppression. Multiple randomized controlled trials indicate that adding Chinese herbal formulas like Astragalus and Codonopsis to standard therapy can reduce gastrointestinal reaction rates by 30%-50% (China Clinical Oncology, 2021 data). For rashes caused by targeted therapies, topical application of Indigo Powder or oral administration of Modified Rhino Horn and Rehmannia Decoction significantly alleviates symptoms. More importantly, TCM's holistic approach enhances patient quality of life—by regulating qi and blood and balancing yin and yang, many advanced-stage patients maintain their physical condition (ECOG performance status), indirectly extending the treatment window.

Currently, China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has approved over 10 TCM injections for adjuvant cancer therapy. Their active components (e.g., phellandrene, huachansu) are increasingly elucidated by modern pharmacology (e.g., inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, modulating the immune microenvironment). This “traditional experience + scientific validation” model positions integrated Chinese and Western medicine as a vital component of China's distinctive therapeutic approach.

III. Prevention and Early Screening: The Frontline Battle to Reduce Burden

The “effectiveness” of cancer treatment in China also lies in its strategy of “prevention over cure.” Over the past decade, through national cancer screening programs (such as “two-cancer screening” and “early diagnosis and treatment of urban cancers”), China has increased the early diagnosis rate for high-incidence cancers like lung, colorectal, and stomach cancer by 20%-30%. Taking colorectal cancer as an example, widespread colonoscopy screening has increased the proportion of early-stage cases from 15% in 2010 to 35% in 2022. These patients achieve a five-year survival rate exceeding 90% (compared to just 15% for advanced-stage cases).

Additionally, China has achieved significant success in preventing and controlling hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection—the primary cause of liver cancer. Through universal neonatal vaccination, the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen carriers has dropped from 9.75% in 1992 to 5.8% in 2022, indirectly reducing liver cancer incidence. This “source control” approach is fundamentally the most cost-effective “treatment method.”

IV. Challenges and Future: Key Steps from “Catching Up” to “Leading the Way”

Of course, China's cancer treatment still faces challenges: regional disparities in medical resources lead to technological gaps in primary hospitals, accessibility to some innovative drugs needs improvement, and standardization of traditional Chinese medicine treatments requires further strengthening. However, the future direction is clear:

• Precision Medicine: China has established distinctive molecular typing systems for liver cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and other fields based on multi-omics (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics), personalized treatment.

• Intelligence: AI-assisted imaging diagnosis (e.g., automated lung nodule detection) and the widespread adoption of robotic surgical systems are narrowing the urban-rural technology gap.

• Internationalization: China-led multicenter clinical trials (e.g., KEYNOTE-394) are exporting Chinese treatment protocols and reshaping global guidelines.

Conclusion: “Most Effective” Means “Most Appropriate”

To foreigners, the “effectiveness” of China's cancer treatment may seem perplexing—it neither adheres to a simplistic “Western medicine supremacy” nor relies on mystical “traditional Chinese medicine miracles.” Instead, it integrates prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation into a comprehensive system within the framework of modern medicine. The ‘effectiveness’ of this system ultimately centers on one core principle: providing “tailored” solutions based on the patient's cancer type, stage, physical constitution, and even socioeconomic status.

As one American lung cancer patient undergoing treatment in China remarked: “The care here doesn't just kill cancer cells; it cares about how I can live with quality.” Perhaps this is precisely the most distinctive “effectiveness” of China's cancer treatment.

Document dated 2025-11-04 10:20 Modify