Exploratory studies of qigong therapy for cancer in China

To increase understanding of what qigong therapy can do for cancer and to raise awareness of such an alternative, we reviewed 50+ studies of qigong therapy for cancer in China from three categories: clinical studies on cancer patients, in-vitro and in-vivo studies. Most human studies involved clinical observation of patients self-practice of qigong. The in-vitro study involved randomly dividing laboratory-prepared cancer cells into qigong and control groups for qi emission. No double-blinded clinical trial was found in patient study, although many had a control. Qigong group had more improvement or a better survival rate than conventional method alone. Various cancer cells were used in in-vitro studies, which demonstrated inhibitory effect of qi emission on cancer growth. Most in vivo studies reported that qigong-treated group had significantly reduced tumor growth or longer survival lives among cancer-infected animals. Evidence suggests that qigong has an inhibitory effect on cancer growth, but there are rooms for improvement and some studies require replications. Qigong therapy is an area that is often neglected by mainstream medicine and research, and it should be seriously examined and considered as a supplement to conventional cancer treatment.