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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: [email protected]: 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%,


INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 1(4); 2002 347

text continued on p 352

Chen, Yeung


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*



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


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)



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


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-



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


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



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


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)



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

qigong for cancer - zen integrative cliniczeniclinic.com/zen/articles/qigongreviewcancer.pdf ·...

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