Ayurvedic Herbal Treatment

Ayurvedic medicines can be given as additional therapy to the standard line of treatment for lung cancer. The aim of treatment is to control the lung cancer, prevent or reduce its spread to other parts of the body and improve overall survival. Medicines which act specifically on the lung tissue are used for this condition. These include Ras-Sindur, Sameer-Pannag-Ras, Nag-Guti, Chaturbhuj-Ras, Hema-Garbha-Ras, Laxmi-Vilas-Ras, Karpuradi-Churna, Kantakari-Avleha, Bhallatak-Asav, Vasavaleha, Sitopaladi-Churna, Talisadi-Churna, Pippalyadi-Ghrut and Drakshasav. Herbal medicines useful in this condition are: Kantakari (Solanum xanthocarpum), Bhruhat-Kantakari (Solanum indicum), Vasa (Adhatoda vasaka), Yashtimadhuk (Glycerrhiza glabra), Pippali (Piper longum), Behada (Terminalia bellerica), Bharangee (Clerodendron serratum), Kushtha (Saussurea lappa), Dhatura (Dhatura fastuosa) and Pushkarmool (Inula racemosa). The medicines Kanchnaar-Guggulu and Maha-Manjisthadi-Qadha are used in very high doses to prevent spread of the tumor locally or to other parts of the body.

Medicines like Suvarna-Malini-Vasant, Madhu-Malini-Vasant, Vasant-Kusumakar-Ras, Suvarna-Sameerpannag-Ras, Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Suvarna-Bhasma and Heerak- Bhasma are used to control the tumor and to improve the immune status of the body. Dashmooladi-Ghrut, Haritaki-Avaleha, Chyawanprash-Avaleha and Bhallatak-Asav are also used for this purpose.

Compared to other cancers, lung cancer has a very poor prognosis, in spite of the latest available modern treatment. The concurrent use of Ayurvedic medicines therefore, assumes more importance, to control the tumor, improve quality of life and improve the survival rate. All such patients should be under the regular care and supervision of an Oncology team

Stages Of Disease..

1) Stage 1 disease - Patients that have this early stage typically have no symptoms and most are cured with primary surgical excision. The tumors are mostly found on a routine chest radiograph. Nowadays many tumors are detected while they are still very small with computed tomography (CT). Morbidity and mortality increase with higher stages of disease and extended resections. The overall five-year survival for patients with completely resected stage I NSCLC is approximately 75%.

2) Stage 2 disease - Patients with T1-2N1 represent a small subset in the spectrum of this disease, usually comprising less than 10% of patients coming to surgery. The overall five-year survival of patients with Stage 2 tumors is approximately 50-60%. In this stage the tumors also start to invade the mediastinal pleura, fat, nerves, and pericardium, but not the major mediastinal vessels or organs.

3) Stage 3 disease - The preffered treatment for for patients in Stage 3 A is complete resection via lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection. Patients with left upper lobe tumors. have the best prognosis of all, with five-year survival rates as high as 42% when completely resected. Computed Tomography (CT) scanning 5 year survival rate is approximately 30% following complete surgical resection. Patients with Stage 3 B are considered inoperable. The five-year survival for patients with
T4 (carina) N0 tumors undergoing tracheal sleeve pneumonectomy has been reported to approach 20%.

4) Stage 4 disease - Surgery for this stage is only limited for young, healthy patients with a solitary site of metastatic disease, and an easily resectable primary tumor contained within the chest. Five-year survival in these patients should approach 20%. Even if a cure is not obtained, survival is prolonged and quality of life improved.