[Eight therapies of resolving phlegm and dispersing nodules in treatment of gastric cancer: experience from Professor Wei Pin-kang].

Professor Wei Pin-kang developed phlegm theory for gastric cancer. He adopted the therapy of resolving phlegm and dispersing nodules as the fundamental therapy for gastric cancer. As the symptoms may vary due to the changes of etiology and pathogenesis at different stages of gastric cancer, he further formulated eight therapies based on the fundamental therapy, namely, resolving phlegm and regulating stomach, resolving phlegm and removing stagnancy, resolving phlegm and clearing heat toxin, resolving phlegm and relieving qi depression, resolving phlegm and dredging collaterals, resolving phlegm and removing blood stasis, resolving phlegm and promoting diuresis, and resolving phlegm to soften abdominal mass. These therapies showed satisfactory effects following the principle of simultaneous treatment of disease and symptoms.