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Chen, YeungQigong Therapy for Cancer in China
Exploratory Studies of QigongTherapy for Cancer in China
Kevin Chen, PhD, MPH, and Raphael Yeung, BA
The authors reviewed more than 50 studies of qigong ther-apy for cancer in China, in 3 categories: clinical studies oncancer patients, in vitro studies on laboratory-prepared can-cer cells, and in vivo studies on cancer-infected animals.Most of the clinical studies involved observation of cancerpatients’ self-practice of qigong. Although no double-blindclinical trials were found among patient studies, many had acontrol. The qigong groups showed more improvement orhad a better survival rate than conventional methods alone.In vitro studies report the inhibitory effect of qi emission oncancer growth, and in vivo studies find that qigong-treatedgroups have significantly reduced tumor growth or longersurvival among cancer-infected animals. However, there ismuch room for improvement in these studies, and some re-quire replication to verify the findings. Qigong therapy is anarea that is often neglected by mainstream medicine andresearch, but our review strongly suggests that qigong de-serves further study as a supplement to conventional cancertreatment.
IntroductionQigong (pronounced “che gông”) is a general termfor a large variety of traditional Chinese energy exer-cises and therapies. There is no consistent definitionfor qigong in the academic field due to its broad cover-age. Generally, qigong is considered to be the self-training method or process through qi (vital energy)and yi (consciousness or intention) cultivation toachieve the optimal state of both body and mind.1 Tra-ditional Chinese medicine (TCM) posits the existenceof a subtle energy (qi) circulating throughout theentire human body. When strengthened or balanced,it can improve health and ward off or slow the progressof disease. TCM considers sickness or pain a result ofqi blockage or unbalanced qi energy in the body. AllTCM therapies—herbs, acupuncture, massage, diet,and qigong—are based on this philosophy and per-spective on human health.
It is generally known that qigong practice is benefi-cial to human health and can prevent disease. How-ever, it is less known, even in China, that qigong maybe an effective way to treat various diseases, includingcancer. It is very common for people with no qigong
experience to consider all qigong the same. In fact,there are thousands of different forms of qigong inChina, and most of them were designed not to healexisting diseases but, rather, to be used as a prophylac-tic and/or a meditative exercise. Although mostqigong styles bring health benefits, medical qigong is asmall, specialized area of qigong that has been specifi-cally developed for the treatment and cure of disease.
Medical qigong refers to the qigong forms used byTCM practitioners with emphasis on using vital energy(qi) to diagnose and take control of or eliminate ill-nesses, as well as prevent their onset. Qigong is mainlya self-training method that includes qi emission orexternal qigong therapy (EQT). EQT has always beenpart of the medical qigong practice as an element inthe effort to help others regain their health. There arealso differences between internal qigong training andEQT in the history and development of medicalqigong. Internal qigong training refers to qigongpractice or cultivation by oneself to achieve optimalhealth for both mind and body. This is a major compo-nent in medical qigong practice. EQT refers to theprocess by which a qigong practitioner directs hisintention, or emits his qi energy, to help others breakqi blockages and induce the sick qi to leave the body soas to alleviate pain, abate disease, and balance the flowof qi. Most research on qigong therapy for cancerpatients has involved teaching patients to practiceqigong (internal qigong training), whereas mostresearch on qigong therapy for cancer in animals orculture cells has involved EQT.
Qigong and Cancer TreatmentAlthough there might be some cases of cancer recov-ery reported in many qigong forms, most qigongschools or clinics in China generally do not openly
Qigong Therapy for Cancer in China
INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002 pp. 345-370 345
KC and RY are at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Medi-cine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson MedicalSchool, Piscataway, New Jersey.
Correspondence: Kevin Chen, Department of Psychiatry, Univer-sity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood JohnsonMedical School, 671 Hoes Lane, UBHC-D453, Piscataway, NJ08854. E-mail: chenke@umdnj.edu.DOI: 10.1177/1534735402238187
take patients with cancer due to their high mortalityrate. For example, it has been reported that the largestmedical qigong facility in China—Huaxia Zhi-NengQigong Center—has chosen not to admit any morepatients with cancer after a cancer patient died in theirfacility. However, 2 qigong forms in China have pub-licly challenged cancer: Guo-Lin New Qigong andChinese Taiji Five-Element Qigong.
A late-stage cancer patient, Guo Lin, who attributesher recovery from cancer to her practice of qigong inthe 1970s, created Guo-Lin New Qigong. Guo startedto teach this form of qigong to a number of cancerpatients around the country. It has been said thatmany of them achieved complete remission from can-cer after practicing Guo-Lin qigong. However, mostpractitioners of Guo-Lin qigong have used qigongmainly as a supplementary therapy to conventionaltreatments or other therapies.2 Therefore, its thera-peutic efficacy has not been sufficiently established asa stand-alone therapy, and it has not been fully recog-nized by Western medical doctors.
Taiji Five-Element Qigong was founded by BinhuiHe in response to the fact that modern medicinefailed to provide a cure for many chronic diseases, andthat many of the drugs used to treat these diseases havenegative long-term side effects. The Chinese Society ofQigong Science appointed He as the director of theQigong Anti-Cancer Research Center in 1993 after dis-covering from media reports that late-stage cancerpatients had recovered completely by practicing thisform of qigong alone without any other therapy. Hethen started formal clinical exploration of qigonganticancer therapy in his qigong training center. Manypatients with late-stage cancer (most of whom wereturned away by hospitals due to the lack of any existentmedical treatment available at such a late stage) partic-ipated in He’s intensive medical qigong training. Mostof these patients achieved significant short-termimprovement in their health and/or a recovery fromcancer through qigong practice alone. Furthermore,a large proportion of these patients became cancer-free in the last 5 to 9 years.3,4 In an official assessmentmeeting held in 1996 by the Chinese government,Chinese scholars and experts in medicine and scienceexamined a number of cancer cases and the results ofscientific research with Taiji Five-Element Qigong.They affirmed the positive effect of the five-elementqigong and concluded in their evaluation that it was“an effective way to treat cancer.”5-7
Research on QigongTherapy for CancerMedia reports on cancer recovery by qigong havecaught the attention of many scientists in China. Canqigong practice really have a therapeutic effect on can-
cer? It is well known that some cancer patients may ex-perience spontaneous remissions without any therapy.How do we discern spontaneous remissions fromqigong-induced remissions? Does qigong treatmentprovide merely a placebo, or does it truly provide atherapeutic effect?
Due to considerations of psychological effects andother limitations, most systematic research on qigongtherapy for cancer has been focused on in vitro studyof different cancer cells or in vivo study where cancercells were injected into a live animal to observe theinhibitory effect of qigong therapy. Most clinical stud-ies of patients have been case observations by medicalprofessionals; no double-blind clinical trials could befound in the literature. In an attempt to understandhow qigong therapy affects cancer treatment, thisstudy reviewed more than 50 research studies (exclud-ing case reports) that have a focus on qigong therapyfor treating cancer. All of these studies were per-formed in the past 20 years and were published inChina. These studies fall into 3 different categories:clinical study on human cancer patients, in vitro studyof cancer cells with EQT, and in vivo (animal) study ofcancer cells with EQT. It is hoped that such a reviewwill interest more scientists in this ancient therapy andthat, as a result, more well-designed research on thetherapeutic effect of qigong therapy for cancer andother chronic diseases will be implemented.
MethodsThis preliminary review uses 2 major sources of litera-ture: (1) the Qigong Database of the Qigong Institute,8
which has more than 1600 abstracts and papers fromvarious conference proceedings and publications;and (2) the accessible publications in Chinese, includ-ing some conference proceedings in Chinese. Al-though there is no academic journal devotedspecifically to qigong research, there are many col-lected research works (edited volumes), as well as spe-cific magazines and journals, that publish qigong-related research studies. Most of this literature hasnever been published in English.
Although there are numerous publications onqigong and cancer in Chinese, few truly adhere toWestern academic standards with regard to researchdesign and reporting format. Some were not writtenfor academic exchanges or documentation. Conse-quently, incomplete data reports were a problem inthis review. To fully take advantage of the publishedliterature for future research in this area, we used thefollowing 3 criteria for selecting studies to be includedin this review: (1) it must be a research study with sys-tematic data collection for the purpose of understand-ing the clinical improvement or significant differ-ences between a qigong and a nonqigong group, not
Chen, Yeung
346 INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002
simply case reports or patient testimonies on cancerrecovery; (2) it must involve specific cancer or carci-noma cells with quantifiable results, not simply anexploration on the mechanism of qigong therapy withbiological means or general assumptions of qigongtherapy for cancer; or (3) it must be clinical researchwith an identifiable baseline tumor description or can-cer identification and compatible results, not simplyan obscure outcome study.
Major Research Findings
Clinical Studies of Human PatientsA number of clinical studies have been done onqigong therapy for cancer patients. Most published re-search articles in China on cancer patients have beenbased on observational studies, some without a com-patible control. A total of 21 clinical studies were re-viewed, with the number of observations ranging from42 to 1883. A large proportion of the publicationswere based on clinical studies that used Guo-Lin NewQigong with a combination of other therapies. Al-though no double-blind clinical trial in conventionalmedicine was found in the qigong literature, many ofthe studies did have a control group. Table 1 presentsthe summary of these studies. Following are more de-tailed summary descriptions of some of these studies.
Quite possibly the largest clinical observation ofqigong therapy for cancer treatment was conducted atBeijing Miyun Capital Tumor Hospital by Zhang andcolleagues,9 who combined self-control qigong ther-apy (a modified form of Guo-Lin qigong) with otherconventional methods in the treatment of 1648patients with various cancers over a period of 8 years.This study documented significant improvement for32.4% of patients and some effectiveness for 59.2% ofpatients; only 8.4% reported no effect. More than 500of the cancer patients survived 5 years or longer (> 30%).This is a much better result than other tumor hospitalsin China that have not combined qigong therapy intheir treatment plans. Although Zhang et al also col-lected many data on the patients’ physical health,improvement in immune functions, and other biolog-ical indicators, no control was used or collected in thishospital-based observation, which makes it less possi-ble to discern how well qigong therapy benefits cancerpatients in comparison to other therapies. Table 2presents the results of major immune indicatorsamong 30 cancer patients before and after the qigongtherapy.10 These data provide some insight into howqigong works for cancer patients.
Sun and Zhao11 of Guang-An-Men Hospital at theAcademy of TCM conducted a clinical study on vari-ous advanced cancers. Among the 123 patients with a
mean age of 47 years, 60 were men and 63 women; allwere diagnosed pathologically with malignant tumor,70 in stage III and 53 in stage IV. The qigong group (n= 97) was treated with conventional drugs plus qigongexercise (2 hours daily for 3 months), whereas the con-trol group (n = 30) was treated with the same drugsalone. At the end of the treatment, the researchersfound that among the qigong-plus-drug group, 82%regained strength, 63% improved appetite, and 33%were free of diarrhea or irregular defecation, whereasthe rates for control group were 10%, 10%, and 6%,respectively (P < .01). They also found that 50.5% inthe qigong group gained 3+ kg in body weight as com-pared to 13.3% in the control group; only 5.4% in theqigong group lost 3+ kg whereas 30% lost weight in thecontrol group (P < .01). The blood tests of the 2groups indicated that in the qigong-treated group, themean phagocytic rate of macrophages increased fromthe previously tested result of 34.7% ± 8.9% to 47.0% ±8.2% after the treatment (a 35% increase); thephagocytic indices were 0.45 ± 0.11 and 0.63 ± 0.13,respectively, before and after the therapy. The meanphagocytic rate in the control group did not elevate,but decreased by 7.8%; the phagocytic indiceschanged from 0.63 ± 0.18 before therapy to 0.50 ± 0.14after therapy. In addition, 24% of patients in theqigong group had normal erythrocyte sedimentationand 21% had normal hepatic function; however, thosewith normal sedimentation and hepatic function con-stituted only 10% and 6.7% in the control group,respectively. In sum, the results suggest that qigongtherapy has some beneficial effect in ameliorating thesymptoms, improving the appetite, strengthening theconstitution, and increasing self-healing ability.
Fu et al12 of Henan Medical University observed 186postsurgery patients of cardiac adenocarcinoma (155men and 31 women; mean age = 59.8 ± 8.8 years) overa period of 3 years. Among them, 7.5% were in stage I,24.7% in stage II, and 67.8% in stage III of various car-diac adenocarcinoma; 44.5% had lymph metastasis.The patients were randomly assigned into 4 treatmentgroups: surgery only (control; n = 48), chemotherapyonly (n = 42), Chinese herbal therapy only (n = 46),and qigong plus herb therapy (n = 50). This lastrequired the patients to practice specific qigong everyday for a specific period of time. The postsurgery che-motherapy was the standard etoposide, doxorubicinand cisplatin (EAP) protocol, 2 courses in the firstyear, 2 courses in the second year, and 1 course in thethird year. After more than 5 years of follow-up study,Fu et al found that the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates forthe control group (surgical only) were 80.1%, 36.5%,and 20.8%; for chemotherapy group were 85.7%,45.2%, and 25.1%; for herbal group were 84.5%,
Qigong Therapy for Cancer in China
INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002 347
text continued on p 352
Chen, Yeung
348 INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002
Aut
hor,
Yea
r
NC
on
trol
Typ
e of
Can
cer
Met
hod
Res
ults
Not
e
Cai
et a
l
2001
20
1883
NV
ario
us ty
pes
and
stag
es o
f
canc
er
Aft
er p
ract
icin
g G
uo-L
in q
igon
g fo
r 2
mon
ths,
blo
od
sam
ple
draw
n on
eac
h pa
tient
for
ana
lysi
s, s
uch
as
RB
C a
nd W
BC
cou
nt, I
gG, I
gA a
nd I
gM le
vels
, NK
cells
and
dif
fere
nt C
D c
ells
cou
nts
wer
e m
easu
red.
Mos
t pat
ient
s sh
owed
rem
arka
ble
impr
ovem
ents
in th
ese
cate
gori
es: i
mm
une
func
tion
impr
oved
aft
er q
igon
g pr
actic
e,
espe
cial
ly W
BC
, CD
20, I
L-2
and
NK
act
iviti
es (
P <
.01)
; 40
.8%
patie
nts
repo
rted
impr
ovem
ent i
n sl
eep;
and
36.
8% r
epor
ted
impr
ovem
ent i
n ap
petit
e.
Con
g et
al
1997
61
120
NL
ate-
stag
e
esop
hary
ngea
l
canc
er
Chi
nese
her
bal c
ompo
und
(Tia
n-xi
an c
apsu
le),
chem
othe
rapy
and
rad
ioth
erap
y, p
lus
Guo
-Lin
sty
leqi
gong
wer
e co
mbi
ned
to tr
eat c
ance
r pa
tient
s. A
num
ber
of p
hysi
cal s
ympt
oms
wer
e ch
ecke
d be
fore
and
afte
r tr
eatm
ent.
Aft
er th
e co
mbi
natio
n th
erap
y, s
igni
fica
nt r
educ
tion
in p
hysi
cal
sym
ptom
s ( P
< .0
1). T
he 5
-yea
r su
rviv
al r
ate
is 3
7.5%
, and
med
ium
sur
viva
l per
iod
2-3
year
s; c
ompa
red
to o
nly
16-2
0%
surv
ival
rat
e in
5 y
ears
, 17
mon
ths
for
the
med
. sur
viva
l per
iod
prev
ious
ly.
Feng
, 199
421
202
NV
ario
us c
ance
rs,
eg e
soph
agea
l,
brai
n tu
mor
, and
othe
rs
Patie
nts
rece
ive
qigo
ng tr
eatm
ent f
rom
qig
ong
mas
ter,
1-2
hou
rs p
er tr
eatm
ent,
trea
ted
betw
een
15-
30 ti
mes
. B
efor
e tr
eatm
ent t
he p
atie
nts
wer
e le
d by
qigo
ng m
aste
r to
pra
ctic
e qi
gong
for
30
min
.
The
num
ber
of p
atie
nts
with
impr
oved
sym
ptom
s w
ere
123,
60.9
% o
f th
e to
tal,
78 p
atie
nts
show
no
impr
ovem
ent (
38.6
%)
and
only
1 p
atie
nts
show
ed w
orse
ned
sym
ptom
s (0
.5%
).
No
qigo
ng f
orm
spec
ifie
d.
Fu e
t al
1996
12
186
YC
ardi
ac a
deno
-
carc
inom
a
Patie
nts
wer
e ra
ndom
ly a
ssig
ned
into
4 tr
eatm
ent
grou
p: s
urgi
cal o
nly
(con
trol
), p
ost-
surg
ical
chem
othe
rapy
(E
AP)
; her
bal,
and
herb
al +
qig
ong.
Mea
n ag
e =
59.
8 ±
8.8
yr.
Surv
ival
rat
es in
yea
r 1,
3 &
5 w
ere:
Sur
gica
l onl
y: 8
0.1%
,
37.5
%, 2
0.8%
; Che
mo:
85.
7%, 4
5.2%
, & 2
5.1%
; Her
bal:
84.
5%,
43.5
% &
26.
1%; q
igon
g +
her
bal:
86%
, 64%
& 3
6%;
P <
0.0
1
b/n
grou
p 1
& 4
in y
ear
3 an
d 5.
The
her
bs a
nd
thei
r co
mbi
natio
n
not e
xpla
ined
.
Hua
ng19
962
136
NV
ario
us ty
pes
of
canc
er p
atie
nts
Guo
-Lin
qig
ong
was
use
d to
impr
ove
the
canc
er
patie
nts’
lung
fun
ctio
n an
d m
icro
circ
ulat
ion.
Spir
omet
er w
as u
sed
to m
easu
re th
e tid
al v
olum
e of
the
lung
, and
nai
l-fo
ld m
icro
circ
ulat
ion
was
als
o
stud
ied.
Aft
er q
igon
g pr
actic
e, th
e sp
irom
eter
sho
wed
incr
ease
in th
e tid
al
capa
city
of
the
lung
. R
espi
ratio
n ra
te in
crea
sed
36.7
9% a
nd
“min
ute
vent
ilato
ry v
olum
e” in
crea
sed
128.
1%.
The
num
ber
of
capi
llary
loop
s in
nai
l-fo
ld in
crea
sed
and
leng
th o
f lo
ops
prol
onge
d.
Kui
et a
l
1996
62
42 (31f
11m
)
NV
ario
us ty
pes
of
tum
ors
and
canc
er
Prac
ticin
g “L
otus
Qig
ong”
(by
mas
ter
Xia
n M
ing
Zen
g) f
or 3
mon
ths,
with
per
iodi
cal e
xter
nal q
i
adju
stm
ent.
The
siz
es o
f tu
mor
wer
e co
mpa
red
afte
r
trea
tmen
t.
27 c
ases
(65
%)
of tu
mor
elim
inat
ion,
15
case
s (3
5%)
of tu
mor
redu
ctio
n ha
ve b
een
repo
rted
. A
n ov
eral
l of
100%
eff
ectiv
e ra
te
was
cla
imed
on
all p
atie
nts
stud
ied.
Onl
y a
shor
t-te
rm
resu
lt w
as
repo
rted
.
Luo
et a
l
1988
1580 (4
8m
32f)
YV
ario
us ty
pes
of
canc
er p
atie
nts
Patie
nts
rand
omly
ass
igne
d to
qig
ong
(1)
chem
o (2
)
and
qigo
ng +
che
mo
grou
ps (
3).
Com
pare
d th
e le
vel
of R
BC
, WB
C, s
erum
hem
oglo
bin
and
T-
Aft
er 6
0 da
ys g
roup
1 h
ad a
sig
nifi
cant
ris
e in
WB
C, R
BC
and
seru
m h
emog
lobi
n af
ter
trea
tmen
t (P
< .0
1), w
hile
gro
up 2
had
sign
ific
ant l
ower
ing
( P <
.01)
. G
roup
3 h
ad e
leva
tion
of s
erum
Tab
le1.
Rev
iew
sof
Clin
ical
Stud
ies
ofQ
igon
gT
hera
pyfo
rC
ance
rP
atie
nts*
Qigong Therapy for Cancer in China
INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002 349
lym
phoc
yte
in p
re-
and
post
trea
tmen
t. “
Vita
l Gat
e ”
qigo
ng w
as u
sed.
hem
oglo
bin,
RB
C a
nd p
late
let c
ount
(P
< .0
1), W
BC
leve
ls
rem
aine
d th
e sa
me.
Sun
& Z
hao
1988
11
123
YV
ario
us c
ance
rsD
rug
+ q
igon
g (n
= 9
7) v
s. d
rug
only
(co
ntro
l, n
= 3
0)
grou
p. S
imila
r dr
ugs
in b
oth
grou
ps. A
ll pa
tient
s in
stag
e II
I or
IV
. Sy
mpt
oms,
sig
ns, b
ody
wei
ght a
nd
imm
une
indi
ces
wer
e re
cord
ed b
efor
e an
d af
ter
trea
tmen
t.
Aft
er 3
mon
ths,
82%
pat
ient
s in
qig
ong
grou
p re
gain
ed s
tren
gth,
63%
impr
oved
app
etite
and
33.
3% f
ree
from
dia
rrhe
a or
defe
ctio
n, c
ompa
red
with
con
trol
10%
, 10%
, & 6
% (
P <
.001
).
50.5
% in
qig
ong
grou
p ga
ined
bod
y w
eigh
t by
3+
kg,
5.4
% lo
st
3+ k
g, c
ompa
red
to 1
3.3%
and
30%
res
pect
ivel
y in
con
trol
.
Qig
ong
grou
p re
port
ed in
crea
sed
imm
une
indi
ces
whi
le c
ontr
ol
decr
ease
d.
Wel
l-co
ntro
lled
stud
y.
Wan
g et
al
1993
1662
YV
ario
us c
ance
rsM
iddl
e to
adv
ance
d-st
age
canc
er p
atie
nts
wer
e
rand
omly
ass
igne
d to
two
grou
ps: C
hem
o +
qig
ong
(32)
and
che
mo
only
(30
, con
trol
). T
he c
hem
o +
qigo
ng g
roup
pra
ctic
ed q
igon
g in
add
ition
to th
e
chem
othe
rapy
.
29 o
f 32
in c
hem
o +
qig
ong
grou
p ha
d im
prov
ed h
ealth
with
stab
le W
BC
cou
nt.
12 c
ases
in c
hem
o on
ly g
roup
rep
orte
d
wor
se h
ealth
with
mor
e sy
mpt
oms
and
decl
ined
WB
C (
less
than
4 ×
109 /
L).
Cur
ativ
e ef
fect
of
+ch
emo.
+ q
igon
g gr
oup,
com
pare
d w
ith th
e ch
emo.
onl
y gr
oup,
is m
uch
bette
r ( P
< .0
5).
Inco
mpl
ete
conc
lusi
on, a
nd
unsp
ecif
ied
amou
nt o
f tim
e
for
trea
tmen
t.
Wan
g
1988
1710
4Y
Var
ious
can
cers
(eso
phag
us,
stom
ach,
lung
canc
er e
tc.)
46 p
atie
nts
wer
e st
udie
d fo
r pr
otei
n le
vels
(A
AG
,
AA
T a
nd C
ER
) be
fore
/aft
er q
igon
g (6
to 2
4
mon
ths)
. 58
pat
ient
s fo
r st
udyi
ng c
ell i
mm
une
func
tion
(LA
I an
d A
NA
E)
befo
re a
nd a
fter
qig
ong.
Som
e su
gar
prot
ein
(AA
T &
AA
G)
show
ed a
dra
mat
ic d
rop
afte
r
qigo
ng (
P <
.001
). B
ut C
ER
incr
ease
d af
ter
trea
tmen
t (P
> .0
5).
LA
I de
crea
sed
( P <
.01)
whi
le A
NA
E in
crea
sed
afte
r qi
gong
prac
tice
(P
< .0
5)
Won
g
1988
6334
5N
Bre
ast,
lung
,
colo
n an
d na
so-
phar
ynge
al
canc
er
Guo
lin q
igon
g pr
actit
ione
rs w
ere
stud
ied
for
effe
cts
afte
r qi
gong
pra
ctic
e. T
he e
ffec
t was
mea
sure
d by
body
str
engt
h (i
ncre
ased
app
etite
, im
prov
ed s
leep
,
less
hea
lth p
robl
em);
nor
mal
ized
blo
od c
ount
s; le
ss
side
eff
ects
of
chem
o or
rad
ioth
erap
y an
d ch
arac
ter
of lu
mp/
tum
ors
Aft
er q
igon
g pr
actic
e, th
e ef
fect
ive
rate
for
bre
ast c
ance
r (n
= 9
3)
is 8
3.6%
; lun
g ca
ncer
(n
= 1
15)
75.1
%; c
olon
can
cer
(N =
72)
68.2
%; a
nd n
asop
hary
ngea
l can
cer,
64.
4%.
Mos
t pra
ctiti
oner
s
also
rep
orte
d fe
wer
sym
ptom
s or
eve
n re
mis
sion
of
othe
r he
alth
-
rela
ted
prob
lem
s.
No
cont
rol f
or
com
pari
son.
Xu
et a
l
1990
1922
9Y
Var
ious
can
cers
Mea
sure
d th
e C
u-Z
n SO
D a
ctiv
ities
and
leve
ls in
the
RB
C in
229
pat
ient
s (1
24 in
qig
ong,
105
in c
ontr
ol
grou
p) w
ith c
ance
r by
col
or im
mun
olog
ical
pla
te
reac
tion
with
enz
yme.
Aft
er q
igon
g pr
actic
e, th
e C
u-Z
n SO
D a
ctiv
ity in
RB
C is
399.
7"48
.3 µ
g/gH
b vs
. 356
.8 ±
22.
3 µg
/gH
b w
ithou
t pra
ctic
ing
qigo
ng (
P <
.001
). Q
igon
g pr
actic
e ra
ised
the
Cu-
Zn
SOD
activ
ity.
For
m o
f qi
gong
was
not
expl
aine
d.
Xu
et a
l
1988
1827
2Y
Var
ious
can
cers
Fiv
e gr
oups
: 1. h
ealt
hy p
eopl
e w
ith
qigo
ng (
72);
2.
heal
thy
peop
le w
/o q
igon
g (5
0); 3
. peo
ple
who
kee
p
bees
(50
); 4
. Can
cer
pati
ents
wit
h qi
gong
(50
); 5
.
canc
er p
atie
nts
w/o
qig
ong.
All
canc
er c
onfi
rmed
by
path
olog
ical
bio
psy.
Blo
od s
ampl
e dr
awn
from
eac
h
pers
on to
test
T-l
ymph
octy
te le
vel b
y A
NA
E (
alph
a-
napt
hyl a
ceta
te e
ster
ase
stai
ning
).
The
val
ue o
f m
ean
± S
D o
f A
NA
E d
eter
min
atio
n of
the
1st g
roup
was
74.
9 ± 1
1.6%
, vs.
65.
6 ±
8.9
% f
or 2
nd g
roup
(P
< .0
1).
The
4th
grou
p w
as 6
9.2
± 1
2.8%
vs.
42.
8 ±
7.1
% f
or 5
th g
roup
(P <
.01)
. T
he 3
rd g
roup
(a
spec
ial c
ontr
ol)
was
76.
8 ±
11.1
%.
The
eff
ect o
f
qigo
ng o
n T
-
lym
phoc
yte
leve
ls
both
in n
orm
al
peop
le a
nd c
ance
r
pati
ents
.
(con
tinue
d)
Chen, Yeung
350 INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002
Xu
1989
80
NV
ario
us c
ance
rsA
ran
dom
ized
tria
l to
stud
y hu
mor
al im
mun
ity;
seru
m I
gG, I
gA a
nd I
gM c
ellu
lar
imm
unity
; LA
I;
activ
e E
ros
ette
for
mat
ion
and
AN
AE
bef
ore
and
afte
r qi
gong
.
The
val
ue o
f A
NA
E in
nor
mal
indi
vidu
als
doin
g qi
gong
was
74.9
%, v
s. o
nly
65.5
% f
or th
ose
not d
oing
qig
ong
( P <
.001
).
The
avg
. val
ue o
f L
AI
for
canc
er p
atie
nts
befo
re q
igon
g 72
.6%
,
vs. 5
2.2%
aft
er q
igon
g. (
P <
.01)
. A
ctiv
e E
ros
ette
als
o
impr
oved
fro
m b
efor
e qi
gong
24.
1% to
29.
7% a
fter
qig
ong.
No
cont
rol t
o
com
pare
.
Ye
et a
l
1992
1498
YV
ario
us c
ance
rsA
ran
dom
ized
tria
l with
3 g
roup
s: n
orm
al c
ontr
ol
(34)
, che
mo.
gro
up (
32)
and
Guo
Lin
qig
ong
(33)
.
The
rat
e of
uns
ched
uled
DN
A s
ynth
esis
(U
DS,
exci
sion
rep
air)
was
mea
sure
d be
fore
and
aft
er th
e
trea
tmen
t.
UD
S ra
te a
fter
3-m
onth
trea
tmen
t: N
orm
al p
re: 7
6.9
± 1
4.0,
pos
t
76.6
±14
.6; C
ance
r co
ntro
l, pr
e 27
.5±
17.4
*; P
ost:
7.1
±17
.6*;
Can
cer
with
qig
ong,
pre
27.
5±
15.8
*; p
ost:
42.1
±18
.5**
;
(*P
< .0
01 c
ompa
red
to n
orm
al *
* P <
.01
com
pare
d ±
to
canc
er
con
trol
).
Rel
ativ
ely
smal
l
grou
p.
Yu
et a
l
1993
1030
NV
ario
us c
ance
r
cell
s fr
om
hum
an p
atie
nts
Che
mot
actic
mov
emen
t, ph
agoc
ytic
rat
e,
bact
erio
cida
l fun
ctio
n of
neu
trop
hils
mea
sure
d by
nbt p
ositi
ve r
ate,
lym
phoc
yte
tran
sfor
mat
ion
rate
of
the
patie
nt’s
imm
une
syst
em w
ere
mea
sure
d be
fore
and
afte
r qi
gong
pra
ctic
e (A
= b
efor
e an
d P
= a
fter
).
Che
mot
axis
of
neut
roph
ils m
easu
red
by a
gar
plat
e
met
hod.
Che
mot
actic
mov
emen
t (di
stan
ce)
A=
1.75
±0.
53m
m v
s P
= 2
.35±
00.7
7mm
(P
< .0
1).C
hem
otac
tic in
ex: A
= 2
.09
±0.
55 v
s. P
=
2.83
±0.
95 (
P <
.01)
. Pha
gocy
tic r
ate
A =
32.
5±
9.2%
, P =
51.
3 ±
12.2
% (
P <
.01)
. Bac
teri
ocid
al f
unct
ion-
nbt p
ositi
ve r
ate:
A=
23.1
± 6
.9%
, P =
40.
2±
10.8
% (
P <
.001
). L
ymph
ocyt
e
tran
sfor
mat
ion
rate
: A =
5 4
.4%
±14
.9%
vs
P =
64.
5 ±
10.
3% (
P <
.01)
Zha
ng
1995
91,
648
NV
ario
us c
ance
rsSe
lf-c
ontr
ol q
igon
g +
con
vent
iona
l the
rapi
es to
trea
t
adva
nced
can
cer
patie
nts
for
8 ye
ars.
Com
preh
ensi
ve
phys
ical
hea
lth a
nd im
mun
e fu
nctio
ns w
ere
mea
sure
d fo
r im
prov
emen
t.
32.4
% a
chie
ved
sign
ific
ant i
mpr
ovem
ent,
59.2
% s
how
ed s
ome
effe
ctiv
enes
s, o
nly
8.4%
no
effe
ct.
Som
e la
te-s
tage
pat
ient
s
repo
rted
com
plet
e tu
mor
rem
issi
on, 5
yr
surv
ival
rat
e m
ore
than
30%
. Pa
tient
s ’ C
3b r
ate
of r
ed b
lood
cel
ls, t
he ly
mph
ocyt
e
tran
sfor
mat
ion
and
phag
ocyt
ic f
unct
ion
all h
ad s
igni
fica
nt
impr
ovem
ent (
P <
.01)
.
The
larg
est
repo
rted
tum
or
hosp
ital s
tudy
wit
h qi
gong
with
out c
ontr
ol.
Zha
ng e
t al
1996
6510
6N
Var
ious
can
cer
case
s
A s
elf-
cont
rol q
igon
g tr
eatm
ent (
mod
ifie
d G
uo-L
in
qigo
ng)
for
all c
ance
r pa
tient
s as
sess
ed b
y pr
e an
d
post
mea
sure
s of
imm
une
indi
cato
rs a
nd p
hysi
cal
heal
th.
Red
blo
od c
ell,
prio
r: X
SD
= 8
.4 ±
4.68
; pos
t 12.
4 ±
3.93
(P <
.001
). R
ed b
lood
cel
l im
mun
e m
ixtu
re f
lora
l loo
p ra
te:
prio
r: 1
0.9
±4.
6, p
ost:
6.4
±2.
7 (P
< .0
01).
Rev
ersi
on o
f
lym
phoc
yte
rate
: Pre
54.
3 ±
14.9
; pos
t: 64
.5 ±
10.3
(P
< .0
1).
Als
o, p
atie
nts ’
sym
ptom
s w
ere
relie
ved
afte
r pr
actic
e an
d si
ze o
f
tum
ors
decr
ease
d.
Smal
l stu
dy
grou
p.
Zha
ng e
t al
1995
6648
NV
ario
us c
ance
rsPr
actic
e of
Guo
Lin
Qig
ong,
imm
une
func
tions
and
the
sym
ptom
s as
soci
ated
with
can
cer
are
mea
sure
d.
Aft
er p
ract
icin
g qi
gong
, maj
ority
had
incr
ease
d im
mun
e
func
tions
, les
s sy
mpt
oms,
bet
ter
heal
th, m
ore
ener
gy, a
nd s
ome
wei
ght g
ain,
etc
.
No
cont
rol t
o
com
pare
.
Zha
o &
Bia
n
1993
67
122
YV
ario
us c
ance
rsH
ospi
tal c
ance
r pa
tient
s tr
eate
d by
Int
ellig
ence
Qig
ong
(IQ
G)
prac
tice —
22 d
ays
of tr
aini
ng c
lass
,
Aft
er 2
2 da
ys o
f tr
eatm
ent,
man
y pa
tient
s sh
owed
cur
ativ
e ef
fect
in r
educ
ing
sym
ptom
s an
d pa
in a
ssoc
iate
d w
ith c
ance
rs, w
heth
er
et a
l 64
±
Tab
le1.
(con
tinu
ed)
Qigong Therapy for Cancer in China
INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002 351
plus
ext
erna
l qi t
reat
men
t. A
mon
g th
em 7
1 pa
tien
ts
had
beni
gn tu
mor
s, 5
1 m
alig
nant
can
cers
, am
ong
thos
e w
ith
canc
er 2
5 ne
ver
took
oth
er th
erap
y
(qig
ong
alon
e).
beni
gn o
r m
alig
nant
. No
stat
isti
cal d
iffe
renc
e in
cur
ativ
e ef
fect
betw
een
qigo
ng a
lone
and
qig
ong
plus
oth
er c
ompr
ehen
sive
ther
apie
s.
Zhe
ng e
t al
1990
13
100
YV
ario
us c
ance
rs,
incl
udin
g li
ver,
lung
and
stom
ach
100
vari
ous
late
-sta
ge c
ance
r pa
tien
ts p
arti
cipa
ted
in
qigo
ng th
erap
y an
d th
eir
1 an
d 5
year
sur
viva
l rat
e
com
pare
d w
ith
the
cont
rol g
roup
(no
qig
ong
trea
tmen
t).
Aft
er q
igon
g tr
eatm
ent,
the
1- a
nd 5
-yea
r su
rviv
al r
ates
wer
e 83
%
and
17%
for
lung
can
cer
pati
ents
( 7
% f
or c
ontr
ol in
5 y
ears
);
83%
and
23%
for
sto
mac
h ca
ncer
pat
ient
s (c
ontr
ol w
as 7
% in
5
year
s).
Med
ian
surv
ival
per
iod
for
live
r ca
ncer
pat
ient
s w
as 2
0.7
mon
ths
in q
igon
g gr
oup,
in c
ompa
riso
n w
ith
3.5
mon
ths
in
cont
rol g
roup
(P
< .0
1)
*Ran
dom
izat
ion
was
notm
entio
ned
inm
osts
tudi
esun
less
othe
rwis
esp
ecifi
ed.
43.5%, and 26.1%; and for the qigong-plus-herbgroup were 86.0%, 64.0%, and 36.0%, respectively.The differences between the qigong-plus-herb groupand the control group were statistically significant (P <.01) (Figure 1). The median survival period was 30months for the control group, 36 and 36.5 months forchemotherapy and herbal groups, and 48 months forqigong-plus-herb group. Unfortunately, the herbs andtheir combination were not specified in the report.
Zheng et al13 of the Shanghai Qigong Instituteapplied a comprehensive qigong therapy (qigongtechnique not specified) to 100 various late-stage can-cer patients and compared their survival rate withthose who had other therapies but no qigong therapyin the same hospital. They found that 1- and 5-year sur-vival rates were 83% and 17% for lung cancer patients(the control was 7% in 5 years) and 83% and 23% forstomach cancer patients (the control was 12% in 5years). The median survival period for liver cancerpatients was 20.7 months in qigong group comparedto with 3.5 months in the control group (P < .01).Huang5 reports that a study at Jiangxi Medical Schoolalso applied qigong with conventional therapy to 20cancer patients and reported much better 3- and 5-year survival rates among these patients (80% and45%) compared to the average of similar patients inthat hospital (65% and 34%).
Ye et al14 of the Shanghai Qigong Institute studiedthe effect of qigong exercise on unscheduled DNAsynthesis (UDS) of peripheral blood lymphocytes in aclinical trial of 65 various cancer patients, plus a nor-mal control. The cancer patients were randomlyassigned into either qigong (n = 33) or chemotherapy(control) group (n = 32) after surgery. After baselinemeasures were taken, the qigong group practicedGuo-Lin qigong for 3 months before the follow-upmeasurements were taken. Table 3 presents the resultsof UDS rates before and after the treatment. Theqigong group had significant improvement in theirDNA repair rate (P < .001), whereas the control(chemo) group had no change. Although both cancergroups had a lower UDS rate than a normal group, theUDS rate of the qigong group was significantly higherthan that of the control group after the 3-month treat-ment period (P < .01).
Luo et al15 of the Zhejiang Institute of TCM con-ducted a clinical trial with 80 cancer patients who were
at stage I or stage II of the disease and who had previ-ously received radiation or chemotherapy. Thepatients were randomly assigned to qigong (n = 30),chemo (n = 25), or qigong-plus-chemo (n = 25) groups.The counts of red blood cells (RBCs), white bloodcells (WBCs), serum hemoglobin and T-lymphocyteswere measured pre- and posttreatment. Vital gateqigong was used in this study. After 60 days of treat-ment, only the qigong group had a significant rise inWBCs, RBCs, and serum hemoglobin (P < .01),whereas the results of the control group were signifi-cantly reduced (P < .01). In the qigong-plus-chemogroup, the patients had an elevation in serum hemo-globin, RBCs, and platelet count (P < .01), but WBClevels remained the same. A similar finding wasreported by Wang et al16 in their trial of 60 late-stagecancer patients: 29 of the 32 patients in the chemo-plus-qigong group had improved health and a stableWBC count, whereas 12 of 30 patients in the chemo-only group reported worse health with more symp-toms, and all controls reported a decline in WBCs (lessthan 4 × 109/L) (P < .05).
At the Teaching Hospital of Nanjing College ofTCM, Wang17 explored the antitumor mechanism ofqigong therapy in a study of 104 different cancerpatients (mainly comprising esophageal, stomach,rectal, and lung cancer). These patients were taught topractice qigong during their inpatient care, and con-tinued doing so after surgery and leaving the hospital.The duration of qigong practice ranged from 6 to 24
Chen, Yeung
352 INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002
0
10
20
70
60
80
90
100
40
30
50
Year(s)S
urv
ival
Rat
e(%
)
Post-SurgeryChemotherapy
Surgery Alone
Post-Surgery Herbal
Post-SurgeryQigong+ Herbal
1 2 3
Figure 1 One, 3-, and 5-year survival rates under various types ofcancer treatment. Data from Fu et al.12
Table 2. Changes of Immune Indicators Among 30 Cancer Patients After Qigong Therapy
Immune Indicator Before After P Value
Chemotactic movement (distance) by agar plate method 1.75 ± 0.53 mm 2.35 ± 0.77 mm < .01Phagocytosis of neutrophils by India ink phagocytic test–phagocytic rate 32.5% ± 9.2% 51.3% ± 12.2% < .01Nbt-positive rate (bactericidal function of neutrophils) 23.1% ± 6.9% 40.2% ± 10.8% < .001Lymphocyte transformation rate 54.3% ± 14.9% 64.5% ± 10.3% < .01C3b rosette rate of red blood cells 8.4% ± 4.7% 12.4% ± 3.9% < .001
months before the follow-up exam. The levels of theproteins α1-acid glycoprotein (AAG), α1-antitrypsin(AAT), and ceruplasmin (CER) were studied among46 patients, and the cell immune function (leukocyteadherence inhibition [LAI] and α-napthyl acetateesterase [ANAE]) was studied among 58 patientsbefore and after qigong. Results are summarized inTable 4. The study showed that the proteins (AAT andAAG) dropped dramatically after qigong (P < .01) butthat CER increased after qigong treatment (P > .05).As to immune indicators, LAI decreased (P < .01)whereas ANAE increased after qigong practice (P <.05). In general, the qigong practice improved thecancer patients’ immune function toward the direc-tion of normal levels.
Xu and colleagues18 at the Jiangsu Provincial Insti-tute of TCM conducted a series of studies to explorethe mechanism of qigong antitumor therapy. In one ofthe studies, subjects were divided into 5 groups: (1)healthy people using qigong (n = 72), (2) healthy peo-ple not using qigong (n = 50), (3) beekeepers (n = 50),(4) cancer patients using qigong (n = 50), and (5) can-cer patients not using qigong. All of the malignanttumors were identified and confirmed by pathologicalbiopsy. A blood sample was drawn from each person totest his or her T-lymphocyte level by ANAE staining.The ANAE determination (x ± SD) in the first groupwas 74.9% ± 11.6% versus 65.6% ± 8.9% in the secondgroup (P < .01), and in the fourth group was 69.2% ±12.8% versus 42.8% ± 7.1% for the fifth group (P <.01). The third group (a special control group) was76.8% ± 11.1%. The people who had practiced qigong(whether they were healthy or a cancer patient) hadsignificantly higher levels of ANAE than those who didnot. In another study, Xu et al19 measured the copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu-Zn SOD) activities inRBCs among 229 cancer patients (124 in qigong, 105in control group) by color immunological plate reac-tion to the enzyme. They reported that qigong prac-tice raised the Cu-Zn SOD activity: after practicingqigong, the Cu-Zn SOD activity in RBCs is 399.758 ± .3µg/gHb versus 356.82 ± 2.3 µg/gHb without practic-ing qigong (P < .001).
Recently, Cai et al20 of Shanghai Fangyi Hospitalreported changes in the immune indicators and
physical health among 1883 cancer patients after prac-ticing Guo-Lin qigong. After practicing Guo-Linqigong for 2 months, a blood sample was drawn fromeach patient; the RBC and WBC count, immune pro-tein IgG, IgA, and IgM levels, natural killer (NK) cells,and different cluster designation (CD) cell countswere measured. Cai et al reported that most patientsshowed remarkable improvements in these categoriesand that their immunity levels were raised after qigongpractice, especially WBC, CD20, interleukin-2 (IL-2),and NK activities (P < .01). In addition, 40.8% patientsreported improvement in sleep and 36.8% reportedimprovement in appetite.
Among the clinical studies reviewed, althoughsome lacked a valid control group, it seems that thereis a consistent tendency that the group treated withqigong therapy in combination with conventionalmethods had more significant improvement and/or abetter survival rate than the group treated with con-ventional methods alone. Some studies reported com-plete remission from late-stage cancer or metastasizedcancer, which is considered an impossible resultthrough the use of conventional medicine alone.More extensive reviews of in vitro and in vivo studies ofqigong therapy for cancer may change our stereotypeof this ancient energy therapy.
In Vitro Studies With EQTTo effectively exclude the potential psychological ef-fect of qigong therapy in cancer treatment, scientistsin China have paid special attention to the in vitrostudy of various cancer cells with the application of ex-ternal qigong therapy in order to understand howqigong treats various cancers. The typical in vitro studyhas involved randomly dividing the laboratory-prepared cancer cells or other cultures into differentgroups with at least 1 group being treated with exter-nal qi by a qigong healer, plus 1 or 2 control groups.Sometimes, 1 group was treated by sham qigong (per-son without qigong training but simulating qigongmovement) for the same amount of time. The cancercells being studied varied tremendously, including hu-man breast cancer (BC) cell lines, erythroleukemia(K562), promyelocytic leukemia, nasopharynglioma,nasopharyngeal carcinoma (CNE-2), SGC-7901 gas-
Qigong Therapy for Cancer in China
INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002 353
Table 3. Effect of Qigong Therapy on the Unscheduled DNA Synthesis (UDS) of Cancer Patients
UDS Rate (%)
Group n Mean Age Before 3 Months Later
Normal control 34 36.3 ± 10.6 76.9 ± 14.1 76.6 ± 14.6Cancer control 32 48.5 ± 12.0 27.5 ± 17.4* 27.1 ± 17.7*Cancer with qigong 33 48.2 ± 9.4 27.5 ± 15.6* 42.1 ± 18.5†
*P < .001 compared to normal control.†P < .01 compared to cancer group and before treatment.
tric adenocarcinoma, spleen cells of mice, lung tumorcell line (LA-795), and so on. Table 5 presents somemajor findings of these studies.
Feng and colleagues21-23 at the Chinese Immunol-ogy Research Center (Beijing) is one of the firstresearch groups to conduct studies on the effects ofthe emitted qi by qigong on human carcinoma cells.They used the techniques of tissue culture,cytogenetics, and electron microscope to study theeffect of external qi on HeLa cells and SGC-7901human gastric adenocarcinoma cells. They repeatedthe same HeLa cell experiment 20 times under identi-cal conditions (treatment sample exposed to externalqi for 20 minutes) and found that the survival rate ofthe HeLa cells in the qigong cultures was on average69.3% of that of control cultures; that is, 30.7% of thecells were killed in the 20-minute exposure to externalqi. The electron microscope showed that degenera-tion and swelling took place in some of the cellsexposed to emitted qi. The experiment with humangastric adenocarcinoma cells was repeated 41 timesunder the same condition (1-hour exposure to exter-nal qi by a qigong master), in which the average sur-vival rate of the SGC-7901 cells was 74.9% of that ofcontrols; that is, the average destruction rate was25.02% (P < .01). The total abnormality rate of thechromosomes in the qigong cultures (5.39%) was sig-nificantly higher than that in the control cultures(1.40%).
Chen and colleagues24 of the Zhongshan Universityof Medicine have been involved in many studies in thisarea. In one of their studies, a qigong practitioner wasinvited to emit external qi toward the human CNE-2cell line to observe the cell growth inhibition and(3H)-thymidine ([3H]-TdR) incorporation inhibi-tion. Compared to the nontreatment control, theinhibitory rates for CNE-2 growth in 4 separate qigongexperiments were 43%, 33%, 60%, and 36% (P < .05)(Figure 2). The [3H]-TdR incorporation inhibitoryrates in 6 different experiments of external qi rangedfrom 22% to 53% (P < .01). Chen et al subsequentlyrepeated this line of both in vitro and in vivo researchand had similar findings.25,26 These data suggest that
external qi can inhibit the cell growth and DNA syn-thesis of the CNE-2 cells. Cao et al27 of the CancerInstitute at Sun Yat-Sen University of Medicine repli-cated Chen et al’s findings on the inhibitory effect ofEQT on CNE-2 growth. They compared the numberof CNE-2 cells cloned after 3 types of treatment—EQTonly, gamma (G) ray only, and EQ + G ray—and foundthat the number of cells cloned in the G ray + EQT cul-tures was 9.2 ± 2.5, significantly lower than the G raycultures (15.8 ± 2.4; P < .001). The kinetic studyshowed that the number of cells cloned in the EQTcultures was 16.5 ± 2.2, close to the level of G ray cul-tures, but that it had started to increase after 48 hours,whereas the G ray cultures continued to decline after48 to 96 hours of cultivation.
Guan et al28 of the Guangzhou College of TCMused similar techniques—[3H]-TdR incorporationand tissue culture—to study the effect of EQT on thegrowth of human lymphocytes and tumor cells(erythroleukemia, K562). They found that the sameexternal qi had different effects on the 2 kinds of cells.The EQT promoted the growth of normal human lym-phocytes (counts per minute [cpm] = 6032.4 4 ± 937.0in the qigong-treated cultures and 3970.4 ± 3722.7 inthe control cultures; P < .05) but inhibited the growthof K562 cells (cpm = 9340.8 in the qigong group vs10760.2 in the control group; P < .01). Yu et al29 of theFirst Central Hospital of Tianjing also used [3H]-TdRincorporation and tissue culture methods to study amalignant mouse lung tumor cell line (LA-795) andnormal cells (L-929) in mice and found that the malig-nant cells were markedly destroyed or killed afterexposure to EQT. Compared to the control group, thekill rates in 2 EQT groups (n = 6 each) are 26% ± 6.9%and 21% ± 8.5% (P < 0.01 in both studies), whereas thenormal cells that had undergone the same treatmentremained intact.
At the Shanghai Institute of TCM, Chen30 studiedthe effect of EQT on the human liver cancer cell line(BEL-7402) and lung cancer cells (SPC-A1). Levels ofadenosine triphosphate (ATP) and alpha-fetoprotein
Chen, Yeung
354 INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002
Table 4. Comparison of Cellular Immune Function in Cancer Patients Before and After Qigong Therapy
Indicator Normal Reference Pretreatment Posttreatment Improvement
Protein content (n = 46)AAG 40.7 ± 10.6 mg 48.9 ± 8.5 mg 36.6 ± 15.4 mg P < .01AAT 187.6 ± 15.9 mg 204.4 ± 61.4 mg 179.3 ± 47.7 mg P < .01CER 21.6 ± 2.98 mg 29.3 ± 7.7 mg 34.4 ± 12.4 mg P > .05
T-cell function (n = 58)LAI 42.0% ± 9.8% 75.3% ± 12.3% 62.4% ± 9.5% P < .01ANAE 68.8% ± 10.3% 39.4% ± 2.9% 47.1% ± 4.4% P < .01
AAG = α1-acid glycoprotein, AAT = α1-antitrypsin, CER = ceruplasmin, LAI = leukocyte adherence inhibition, ANAE = α-napthyl acetateesterase.
text continued on p 358
Qigong Therapy for Cancer in China
INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002 355
Aut
hor,
Yea
rN
Con
trol
Stud
y su
bjec
tM
etho
dR
esul
tsN
ote
Cao
et a
l
1993
2796
YH
uman
car
cino
ma
cell
line
(C
NE
-2)
CN
E-2
cel
ls p
lant
ed in
96-
wel
l pla
tes
(50
cells
each
) w
ere
divi
ded
into
4 g
roup
s: c
ontr
ol, 2
Gy
Gam
ma
ray
only
, EQ
onl
y, a
nd E
Q+
G-r
ay.
Aft
er 2
day
s of
cul
tivat
ion,
the
num
ber
of c
ells
clon
ed (
> 8
cel
ls u
nder
an
inve
rted
mic
rosc
ope)
was
obs
erve
d an
d co
unte
d.
The
mea
n #
cells
clo
ned
( ±
SD
) in
the
G-r
ay +
EQ
grou
p w
ere
9.2
± 2.
5, m
uch
low
er th
an th
e G
-ray
alo
ne
grou
p (1
5.8
± 2
.4; P
< .0
01).
The
kin
etic
stu
dy s
how
ed
that
# c
ells
clo
ned
in E
Q g
roup
wer
e 16
.5 ±
2.2
, clo
se to
the
leve
l of
G-r
ay g
roup
, but
sta
rted
incr
easi
ng a
fter
48
hour
s, w
hile
the
G-r
ay g
roup
con
tinue
dec
linin
g af
ter
48
to 9
6 ho
urs
of c
ulti
vati
on.
Prov
ide
som
e fo
unda
tion
for
com
bini
ng q
igon
g an
d
radi
atio
n as
an
effe
ctiv
e
way
for
inhi
bitin
g tu
mor
grow
th. N
BM
Cao
et a
l
1988
32Y
IL-2
, IFN
-r, L
T
from
spl
een
cells
of C
57B
L m
ice
(6)
The
mic
e in
EQ
gro
up r
ecei
ved
qi f
or 3
0 m
in
a da
y on
day
1, 3
, 5, 7
. On
day
10, m
ice
wer
e
kille
d to
mak
e sp
leen
cel
l sus
pens
ions
for
indu
cing
lym
phok
ines
by
incu
batio
n to
dete
rmin
e th
e IL
-2, t
iter
of I
FN-r
and
LT
activ
ity.
The
IL
-2 in
con
trol
was
71.
5 ±
22.
3 µm
l, lo
wer
than
EQ
grou
p (1
25.6
± 32
.5 µ
ml;
P <
.01)
. T
he ti
ter
of I
FN-r
in
EQ
gro
up w
as 4
60 ±
257
.4 m
ml,
high
er th
an c
ontr
ol
(166
± 6
1.8
µml;
P <
.01)
. T
he L
T a
ctiv
ity w
as a
lso
enha
nced
in E
Q g
roup
(74
.2 ±
16.8
µm
l), a
s co
mpa
red
to
cont
rol g
roup
(61
.1±
6.2
µ m
l; P
< .0
5).
NB
M
Che
n et
al
1990
24Y
Hum
an
naso
phar
yneg
al
carc
inom
a (N
PC)
cell
line
(C
NE
-2)
The
eff
ect o
f E
Q o
n C
NE
-2 c
ell l
ine
grow
th
inhi
bitio
n ra
te a
nd [
3 H]-
TdR
inco
rpor
atio
n
inhi
bitio
n w
as o
bser
ved
by c
ompa
ring
the
resu
lts b
efor
e an
d af
ter
EQ
trea
tmen
t.
The
gro
wth
inhi
bitio
n ra
tes
in 4
exp
erim
ents
yie
lded
43%
(P
< .0
5), 3
3% (
P <
.05)
, 60
% (
P <
.01)
and
36%
(P <
.05)
res
pect
ivel
y. T
he [
3H
]-T
dR in
corp
orat
ion
inhi
bitio
n ra
tes
in 6
exp
erim
ents
yie
lded
30%
(P
< .0
1),
22%
(P
< .0
1), 3
5% (
P <
.001
), 3
0% (
P <
.001
), 5
3%
(P <
.001
), a
nd 3
9% (
P <
.01)
, res
pect
ivel
y.
Len
gth
of s
tudy
and
qig
ong
type
not
spe
cifi
ed. N
BM
Che
n et
al
1996
30Y
Hum
an li
ver
canc
er c
ell l
ine
(BE
L-7
402)
and
aden
ocar
cino
ma
(SPC
-A1)
cel
l lin
e
Lev
el o
f A
TP
and
AFP
of
the
canc
er c
ells
(BE
L-7
402
and
SPC
-A1)
wer
e m
easu
red
24
hour
s af
ter
EQ
trea
tmen
t to
dete
rmin
e th
e
activ
ity o
f th
e ca
ncer
cel
l lin
es in
com
pari
son
with
bef
ore
and
cont
rol g
roup
.
Com
pare
d w
ith c
ontr
ol, t
he le
vel o
f A
TP
in E
Q g
roup
incr
ease
d af
ter
qigo
ng tr
eatm
ent.
Als
o, th
e A
FP le
vel i
n
EQ
gro
up d
ecre
ased
. Rep
eate
d ex
peri
men
ts c
onfi
rmed
the
sim
ilar
resu
lts f
or E
Q e
ffec
t: A
FP le
vels
dec
reas
ed.
Thi
s st
udy
sugg
ests
that
EQ
may
rev
erse
the
form
atio
n
and
grow
th o
f ca
ncer
cel
ls.
NB
M
Che
n et
al
1996
26Y
CN
E-2
cel
l lin
eC
NE
-2 c
ell l
ines
wer
e ra
ndom
ly d
ivid
ed in
to 3
grou
ps: c
ontr
ol, E
Q a
nd s
ham
gro
ups
(blin
ded)
. In
dice
s in
clud
e tr
ypan
-blu
e st
aini
ng
resi
stan
ce, [
3 H]-
TdR
, cul
turi
ng in
sof
t-ag
ar a
nd
aggl
utin
atio
n by
PH
A te
chni
ques
. The
eff
ects
EQ
sho
wed
inhi
bitio
n of
cel
l pro
lifer
atio
n. T
he
inhi
bito
ry r
ates
in tr
eatm
ent g
roup
and
imita
tion
grou
p
wer
e 46
% a
nd 9
% in
the
firs
t exp
., 48
.1%
and
7.6
% in
the
2nd
exp.
res
pect
ivel
y. A
lso
com
pari
ng th
e co
ntro
l
grou
p w
ith th
e tr
eatm
ent g
roup
, the
re is
a s
igni
fica
nt
Stud
ied
vari
ous
rate
suc
h as
grow
th r
ate,
DN
A
synt
hesi
s, c
ell a
ncho
rage
,
etc.
Lik
e ot
hers
, qig
ong
mec
hani
sm n
ot il
lust
rate
d.
x-
Tab
le5.
Rev
iew
sof
InV
itro
Stud
ies
ofE
xter
nalQ
igon
g(E
Q)
The
rapy
for
Can
cer*
(con
tinue
d)
Chen, Yeung
356 INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002
of E
Q o
n gr
owth
rat
e, D
NA
syn
thes
is,
anch
orag
e-in
depe
nden
t gro
wth
and
aggl
utin
atio
n of
cel
ls w
ere
asse
ssed
.
diff
eren
ce (
P <
.01)
, but
the
cont
rol g
roup
com
pare
d
with
the
imita
tion
show
ed n
o si
gnif
ican
t
diff
eren
ces
( P >
.05)
Che
nY
Hum
an p
ulm
onar
y
aden
ocar
cino
ma
(SPC
-A-1
) ce
ll li
ne
SPC
-A-1
cel
l lin
es w
ere
inoc
ulat
ed in
sof
t
agar
cul
ture
test
. Aft
er 3
day
s of
EQ
at 3
cm
away
for
20
min
eac
h tim
e, 2
tim
es a
day
for
11 ti
mes
. C
ell l
ines
wer
e ex
amin
ed u
nder
elec
tron
mic
rosc
ope
in c
ompa
riso
n w
ith s
ham
trea
ted
grou
ps
Com
pare
d w
ith th
e co
ntro
l, E
Q g
roup
sho
wed
som
e
chan
ges,
suc
h as
the
vacu
olat
ed c
ytop
lasm
incr
ease
d,
som
e lig
ht p
oint
s cy
topl
asm
and
nuc
leus
, cel
l mem
bran
e
brok
e do
wn,
cel
l nuc
leus
dis
appe
ared
, and
man
y ce
lls
swel
led
and
died
. The
SPC
-A-1
in E
Q g
roup
lost
the
char
acte
rist
ics
of c
ance
r ce
ll.
Prov
ides
str
ong
foun
dati
on
for
the
appl
icat
ion
of
qigo
ng in
clin
ical
ther
apy
for
lung
can
cer.
NB
M
Che
n
1992
31Y
Hum
an li
ver
canc
er (
BE
L-
7402
) an
d lu
ng
aden
ocar
cino
ma
cell
(SPC
-A1)
EQ
was
app
lied
to B
EL
-740
2 an
d SP
C-A
1
canc
er c
ells
to d
emon
stra
te th
e oc
curr
ence
of
canc
er c
ell r
ever
sibi
lity.
The
can
cer
cell-
spec
ific
labe
l fac
tor
AFP
sho
wed
incr
ease
aft
er E
Q. A
DH
act
ivity
incr
ease
d an
d A
LD
activ
ity d
ecre
ased
. A
TP
cont
ent i
n ca
ncer
cel
l als
o
rais
ed w
hile
con
A-m
edia
ted
canc
er c
ell a
gglu
tinat
ion
degr
ee d
ecre
ased
aft
er E
Q tr
eatm
ent.
NB
M
Feng
et a
l
1988
22Y
SGC
-790
1 ga
stri
c
aden
ocar
cino
ma
cells
and
Hal
e ce
lls
SGC
-790
1 ca
ncer
cel
ls w
ere
trea
ted
by E
Q f
or
20 to
60
min
. to
exam
ine
the
kill
rate
s of
EQ
and
to m
easu
re s
urvi
val r
ates
. E
xper
imen
ts
wer
e re
peat
ed 2
0 to
41
times
und
er id
entic
al
cond
itio
ns.
The
sur
viva
l rat
e of
the
Hal
e ce
lls a
fter
EQ
was
100
%,
com
pare
d w
ith th
e su
rviv
al r
ate
of c
ontr
ol, 6
9.3%
. T
he
surv
ival
rat
e of
can
cer
cells
in E
Q w
as 7
5% th
at in
the
cont
rol (
P <
.01)
. T
he a
bnor
mal
ity r
ate
of n
umbe
r of
chro
mos
omes
in c
ance
r ce
lls w
as 5
.4%
in E
Q, c
ompa
red
to 1
.4%
in c
ontr
ol (
P <
.01)
Det
aile
d gr
aphs
and
dat
a in
the
pape
r. N
BM
Feng
et a
l
1990
23Y
Hum
an s
tom
ach
aden
ocar
cino
ma
cells
Isol
ated
NK
cel
ls f
rom
blo
od a
nd N
K c
ells
com
bine
d w
ith E
Q w
ere
used
to k
ill
aden
ocar
cino
ma
cells
of
stom
ach
culti
vate
d
out o
f th
e bo
dy u
sing
den
sity
gra
dien
t met
hod
Kill
ing
rate
of
aden
ocar
cino
ma
cell:
EQ
onl
y 36
.6%
,
NK
cel
l 39.
8%, E
Q +
NK
cel
l 81.
6% (
P <
.01)
.
Qig
ong
type
not
spe
cifi
ed.
NB
M
Gua
n et
al
1989
28
YN
orm
al h
uman
lym
phoc
ytes
and
eryt
hrol
euke
mia
(K56
2) c
ells
The
eff
ect o
f E
Q o
n th
e gr
owth
con
ditio
n in
vitr
o of
nor
mal
hum
an ly
mph
ocyt
es a
nd K
562
tum
or c
ells
was
stu
died
by
mea
sure
men
t of
[3H
]-T
dR a
nd ti
ssue
cul
ture
tech
niqu
e is
use
d.
Ext
erna
l qi h
elpe
d to
pro
mot
e gr
owth
of
norm
al h
uman
lym
phoc
ytes
(66
% m
ore
than
con
trol
, P <
.05)
whi
le
inhi
bite
d th
e K
562
tum
or c
ells
(le
ss g
row
th in
EQ
).
NB
M
Hu
et a
l
1989
3312
YH
uman
prom
yelo
cytic
leuk
emia
cel
l lin
e,
(HL
-60)
6 b
ottl
es w
ith
5 m
l liq
uid
2x10
7 /m
l HL
-60
cells
rec
eive
d E
Q tr
eatm
ent 2
tim
es/d
ay f
or 3
days
. T
he o
ther
6 c
ontr
ol b
ottle
s in
cuba
ted
the
sam
e w
ay w
ithou
t EQ
.
The
mea
n of
term
inal
gra
nulo
cytic
dif
fere
ntia
tion
of
prom
yelo
cytic
leuk
emia
cel
l in
EQ
gro
up is
57.
3
com
pare
d w
ith c
ontr
ol m
ean
= 3
1.2.
(n
= 1
0, t
= 4
.5; P
<
.01)
. Fur
ther
det
ails
giv
en.
Form
of
qigo
ng n
ot
men
tion
ed. N
BM
Shen
et a
l
1990
34
22Y
Hum
an li
ver
canc
er c
ell (
BE
L-
7402
)
ICR
nud
e m
ice
wer
e us
ed to
mea
sure
the
NK
cell
activ
ity a
nd tu
mor
inhi
bitio
n ra
te. T
he
mic
e w
ere
divi
ded
rand
omly
into
2 g
roup
s:
The
mea
n w
eigh
t of
tum
or: c
ontr
ol 1
.55
± 0.
44 g
vs
EQ
0.43
± 0
.1g.
Inh
ibito
ry r
ate
72.3
%.
NK
cel
l act
ivity
:
cont
rol 3
9.7
± 14
.7%
, vs
64.1
± 2
1.7%
for
EQ
. T
he N
K
Form
of
qigo
ng n
ot
men
tion
ed. N
BM
1992
63
Tab
le5.
(con
tinu
ed)
Qigong Therapy for Cancer in China
INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002 357
EQ
and
con
trol
. All
mic
e w
ere
inje
cted
with
BE
L-7
402
canc
er c
ell l
ine
into
the
axil
la.
EQ
grou
p re
ceiv
ed q
i 30
min
a d
ay f
or 2
4 da
ys.
All
mic
e w
ere
auto
psie
d af
ter
4 w
eeks
.
cell
activ
ity f
or E
Q g
roup
incr
ease
d 1.
61 f
old.
Rep
eat
expe
rim
ent s
how
s th
e tu
mor
inhi
bitio
n ra
te 6
5.5%
and
NK
cel
l act
ivity
incr
ease
d by
2.3
2 fo
ld, r
espe
ctiv
ely.
Xu
& X
in
1992
6920
YS
-180
cel
ls20
mic
e w
ere
divi
ded
into
2 g
roup
s: e
xp. (
10 )
and
cont
rol g
roup
(10
). A
ll m
ice
inje
cted
with
0.2
ml o
f S
-180
tum
ors
(106
cel
ls/m
l) a
nd
exp.
gro
up r
ecei
ved
EQ
twic
e a
day,
20
min
each
for
20
days
. M
ice
wer
e th
en a
utop
sied
and
the
tum
or w
eigh
t is
mea
sure
d.
The
avg
. tum
or w
eigh
t for
the
exp.
gro
up is
1.3
± 0
.11g
,
vs 2
.54
± 0
.14g
for
con
trol
(P
< .0
1). T
he tu
mor
siz
e
for
exp.
gro
up 1
.97
± 0.
16 c
m2
vs 3
.86
± 0.
18 c
m2 ,
P <
.01.
The
app
eara
nce
of th
e tu
mor
for
the
exp.
gro
up
look
s “h
ealth
ier”
than
the
cont
rol.
The
col
or is
mor
e
redd
ish
and
the
tum
or s
ize
is s
mal
ler
than
the
cont
rol.
For
m o
f qi
gong
not
men
tion
ed. N
BM
Ye
et a
l
1988
5010
x
50
YH
uman
per
iphe
ral
bloo
d ly
mph
ocyt
es
A c
ompa
riso
n tr
ial:
qig
ong
mas
ter,
qig
ong
exer
cise
rs a
nd n
on-q
igon
g pe
rson
s w
ere
test
ed
for
thei
r po
tent
ial o
f em
itti
ng q
i for
eit
her
“nou
rish
ing ”
or
“kill
ing”
the
lym
phoc
ytes
cells
. T
he c
hang
ing
func
tion
of ly
mph
ocyt
es,
coin
cide
nt r
ate
of th
inki
ng “
nour
ishi
ng”
or
“kill
ing”
rat
e in
two
grou
p w
ere
mea
sure
d.
EQ
by
qigo
ng p
ract
itio
ners
cau
sed
sign
ific
ant c
hang
es in
surf
ace
mar
kers
of
lym
phoc
ytes
, 41/
50 (
82%
) an
d 35
/50
(70%
) re
spec
tive
ly (
P <
.05)
; and
coi
ncid
ent r
ate
of
thin
king
“no
uris
hing
” or
“ki
llin
g” in
thes
e tw
o gr
oups
wer
e 34
/50
(68%
) an
d 22
/50
(44%
) ( P
< .0
1). N
on-
qigo
ng p
erso
ns c
ause
d lit
tle c
hang
e of
the
abov
e
indi
cato
rs, 2
/50
(4%
); P
< .0
01 c
ompa
red
to q
i gro
up.
NB
M
Yu
et a
l
1990
2924
YM
alig
nant
mou
se
lung
tum
or c
ell
line
(L
A-7
95)
and
norm
al c
ell (
L-
929)
Cel
l cul
ture
wer
e pr
epar
ed a
nd d
ivid
ed in
to
the
EQ
and
con
trol
gro
up.
EQ
app
lied
to th
e
cell
cultu
re a
t 4 c
m a
way
for
5 o
r 8
sec.
for
2
tim
es.
The
kil
ling
rat
e is
then
mea
sure
d by
vari
ous
met
hods
(el
ectr
on m
icro
scop
y, [
3 H]-
TdR
etc
) af
ter
48 a
nd 6
5 ho
urs.
Aft
er E
Q e
xpos
ure
the
mal
igna
nt c
ells
wer
e m
arke
dly
dest
roye
d or
kil
led.
Com
pare
d w
ith
cont
rol,
the
kill
ing
rate
s in
2 E
Q g
roup
s (n
= 6
eac
h) a
re 2
6% ±
6.9
and
21%
±8.
5 (b
oth
wit
h P
< .0
1).
The
nor
mal
cel
l
unde
rgon
e th
e sa
me
trea
tmen
t rem
aine
d in
tact
.
Qig
ong
affe
cts
and
kill
s
mal
igna
nt c
ells
wit
hout
harm
ing
the
norm
al c
ells
.
NB
M
*Ran
dom
izat
ion
notm
entio
ned
inm
osts
tudi
esun
less
othe
rwis
esp
ecifi
ed.N
BM
=no
blin
ding
men
tione
d.
(AFP) of the cancer cells were measured 24 hoursafter EQT (40 minutes in 2 treatments) to determinethe activity of the cancer cell lines as compared to theiractivity after sham treatment. Compared to the sham-treat
Recommended