"From the despair when receiving the diagnosis, to the joy of regaining health now, the medical team of the Tumor IV Department of Yantai Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has built a defense line for my life with their medical skills and kindness." Recently, Mr. Cheng (a pseudonym), a liver cancer patient, held the hand of the director of the Tumor IV Department, Dai Lingling, tightly during his follow-up visit, unable to hide his excitement. 
The story takes place in November 2024. Due to persistent discomfort in the right upper abdomen for two weeks, Grandpa Cheng, accompanied by his family, came to Yantai Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. An ultrasound examination revealed: there was a 10-cm solid mass in the right lobe of the liver. To confirm the diagnosis, he went to the Tumor IV Department for further liver biopsy. The result showed - liver cancer. "On the day I received the report, my wife and I hid in the corridor and cried for a long time. A 10-cm tumor! We were really panicked. All we could think about was: I won't live long," recalled Grandpa Cheng, who was 74 years old, still shaken by the initial diagnosis.

For patients with conventional liver cancer, surgical resection is the preferred treatment for radical cure. However, Mr. Cheng's condition is truly a "surgical no-go area" - a 10-centimeter tumor occupies most of the space in the right lobe of the liver, and the remaining liver volume is less than 40%. Attempting a surgical operation might lead to liver failure in the patient, with a mortality rate as high as 30%. 
Facing this challenging case, the Tumor IV Department immediately initiated a multidisciplinary consultation (MDT), involving experts from the General Surgery Department, Imaging Department, Pathology Department, etc., to conduct in-depth discussions on tumor blood supply analysis, liver function reserve assessment, and surgical feasibility. Deputy Director Meng Peng of the Tumor IV Department believed that for patients like Mr. Cheng with such large liver cancer masses, only through precise Western medical treatment to shrink the tumor combined with the traditional Chinese medicine's method of strengthening the body to expel evil, reduce toxicity and enhance efficacy, in a combined Chinese and Western medicine model, could surgical opportunities be created. Eventually, the treatment team formulated a "combined Chinese and Western medicine transformation treatment + radical surgery" plan for Mr. Cheng: that is, to use Western systemic treatment combined with local interventional treatment to shrink the tumor, and simultaneously use traditional Chinese medicine to treat based on syndrome differentiation to enhance the body's tolerance, wait until the tumor shrinks to a safe resection range, and then perform surgery for resection. This plan integrates the advantages of combined Chinese and Western medicine treatment and the synergy of systemic and local treatments, aiming to achieve the best treatment effect for Mr. Cheng through the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines.

From the perspective of Western medicine, the treatment team employed a comprehensive approach combining "targeted and immunotherapy combined with hepatic artery interventional embolization and hepatic artery perfusion chemotherapy". The targeted drugs combined with immunotherapy, like "biological missiles", precisely identify and attack tumor cells through the entire body system. While the hepatic artery interventional embolization and hepatic artery perfusion chemotherapy are used as local treatments, the former cuts off the blood supply to the tumor, causing it to "starve to death", while the latter uses continuous high-concentration drugs to eliminate residual cancer cells. This combination of systemic and local treatments breaks through the limitations of single treatment and can more thoroughly reduce the active area of the tumor. 
Meanwhile, traditional Chinese medicine treatment is carried out throughout the entire treatment process. For the possible reactions such as fatigue, nausea, poor appetite, and liver pain that Mr. Cheng might experience during the treatment, the director of the Tumor IV Department of the famous TCM doctor in Yantai City, Dai Lingling, designed a personalized TCM treatment plan: centered on "combining disease and syndrome, syndrome differentiation and treatment, strengthening the body and eliminating the pathogen", through strengthening the spleen, nourishing the kidney and nourishing the liver to enhance vitality, using drugs that soothe the stomach and aid digestion to improve appetite, and using detoxifying and eliminating tumor drugs to assist in inhibiting tumors. The traditional Chinese medicine not only alleviated the adverse reactions of Western medicine treatment, but also effectively contributed to the anti-tumor treatment. 
"For patients like Mr. Cheng, who have such large 10-centimeter liver cancer tumors, relying solely on Western medical treatments often fails to achieve the desired results. However, combining Western and Eastern medicine yields twice the therapeutic effect, achieving the '1 + 1 > 2' outcome. Throughout the entire treatment period, Mr. Cheng's quality of life remained excellent, without experiencing severe bone marrow suppression, liver function damage, or digestive tract reactions. This laid a solid foundation for the smooth implementation of his subsequent surgery." Director Dai Lingling said. 
During the four-month treatment period, Grandpa Cheng received regular monitoring of liver function and assessment of the tumor. The follow-up CT report showed that the diameter of the tumor in the right lobe of the liver had decreased from 10 cm to 6 cm, and the volume of the remaining liver exceeded 40%. This fully met the conditions for surgical removal. This阶段性 victory means that the patient has changed from being "unresectable" to "cureable"， providing a valuable window for the subsequent surgery.

In mid-May this year, Grandpa Cheng successfully underwent radical resection for liver cancer in our hospital's general surgery department. The postoperative pathology showed that the resection margin was negative, and the tumor was completely removed both macroscopically and microscopically, marking that Grandpa Cheng had reached the clinical cure standard. On the second day after the operation, he was able to get out of bed and move around. On the ninth day, his liver function returned to normal, and on the tenth day, he was discharged smoothly.

Now, Grandpa Cheng has resumed his normal life. He regularly returns to the hospital for check-ups, and all the indicators show that they are normal. "Now I go to the market with my wife to buy groceries and go for walks in the park every day. At first, I thought I wouldn't live for long. It was you guys who saved my life and gave me the chance to continue enjoying this simple and happy life."

From "a 10-centimeter tumor" to "clinical cure", Mr. Cheng's journey of rebirth is not only a successful case of cancer treatment for the patient, but also a reflection of the multi-disciplinary collaboration and integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment capabilities of Yantai Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. The Tumor IV Department of Yantai Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital will continue to uphold the development concept of "upholding tradition and innovating, combining Chinese and Western medicine", with superb medical skills and warm services, to ignite the hope of life for more cancer patients and build a regional characteristic highland for tumor prevention and treatment in traditional Chinese medicine.