| Xiaojun Chen, MD | Binhui He | Kevin Chen, Ph.D. | | Zhongshan Medical University | World Institute for Self Healing | UMDNJ -- New Jersey Medical School | Qigong is one of the oldest traditional Chinese medicine practices believed to have special healing and recovery powers. Millions of people practice Qigong around the world to treat diseases ranging from hyper-tension to cancer. However, little scientific documentation could be found on Qigong and its effectiveness. Recently, it was reported that Chinese Taiji Five-Element Qigong? a form of medical Qigong that was officially approved and promoted by China Ministry of Health -- had therapeutic effects on malignant tumors. Many patients with various chronic diseases, especially cancers, have had significant improvement or recovered completely without any other medicine or therapy after training with Chinese Taiji Five-Element Qigong. To explore the effectiveness and mechanisms of this therapeutic method, we invited Mr. Binhui He, the founder of Chinese Taiji Five-Element Qigong, to collaborate with us for a series of study to investigate the effects of external Qi emission on transplanted hepatocarcinoma in mice. Following is a report of our studies - Materials Animals: 30 NIH nude mice, weight between 18 and 22 grams, equal number of male and female.
Cancer cell strain: Transplanted hepatocarcinoma in mice. - Methods
The tumor cells were grown as ascites of mice for seven days. Abdominal puncture was conducted aseptically to collect the tumor cells, which were then diluted into 5 x 106/ml in normal saline. To transplant the hepatocarcinoma, each mouse was inoculated subcutaneously at right axilla with 0.2ml cell suspension. The mice were randomly divided into three groups (10 mice each group): Qigong treated group (a Qigong master emitted external Qi towards the mouse cage at a distance of 8-10cm for 10 minutes, every other day, for a total of four sessions); the imitation group (a person without knowledge of Qigong imitated what the Qigong master did); and the non-treated control group. The designed treatment started twenty-four hours after mice were inoculated. Mice were sacrificed seventy-two hours after the last Qigong treatment, and its weight was recorded. Each transplanted tumor mass was isolated, and its weight was recorded. The tumor growth inhibitory rate was computed with following formula: Inhibitory rate = (1 - average tumor weight (g) of treated group/average tumor weight (g) of control) x 100%) The same design was repeated for three times to achieve reliable results. Electron microscopy: all tumor samples were prefixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde and polyformaldehyde, and postfixed with 1% osmium tetroxide. Ultrathin sections were cut with Leika ultramicrotome, stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate, and observed with a H-600 electron microscope. 
In comparison with the non-treatment control group, the tumor growth inhibitory rates of the Qigong treated group were 70.3%, 79.7%, and 78,7%, respectively (p < 0.0001) in three experiments with the same design (See Table 1 and Figure 1). The tumor growth inhibitory rates of the imitation treated group were 9.5%, 2.6%, and 2.5%, respec-tively (p > 0.05). They are consis-tently positive, but not statistically significant.
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 | Figure 1. Comparison of Tumor Sizes of Three Groups in Three Experiments of the Effects of Qi Emission on Transplanted hepatocarcinoma in Mice | | | | The morphological characteristics of the non-treated cancer cells included variation in the size and shape of cancer cells; enlarged and hyperchromatic nuclei with clumped hetero-chromatin; enlarged nucleoli; decreased cytoplasm, increased ratio of nucleus and cytoplasm. (Picture not shown) However, morphological alterations in Qigong treated group are remarkable, including decreased cell volume; nuclear condensation, nuclear fragmentation; decreased ratio of nucleus and cytoplasm; and a few apoptotic bodies in extracellular space. Figure 2 (Right). Pictures of Electron Microscopy (Cancer cells in Qigong group): Fig A (2200x) shows cell shrinkage, some with nuclear condensation, decreased nucleus/ cytoplasm ratio; some apoptotic bodies in cells. Fig. B (8000x) shows apoptotic cells, karyorrhexis, nuclear fragments, and cytoplasmic aggregation. Fig. C (15000x) shows swollen mitochondria with ruptured cristae or vacuolization. Fig. D (6000x) shows apoptosis: cell shrink, pyknosis and cytoplamic aggregation. Fig. E (3900x) shows clustered apoptotic bodies in intercellular space. |  | The results of the study suggests that external Qi emission has significant inhibitory effect on transplanted hepatocarcinoma in mice. Given the fact that most people do not believe in the existence of Qi or effectiveness of Qigong in healing, and tend to consider the effects of Qigong mostly psychological, it is very important to minimize the potential psychological hint or placebo effect in a Qigong study. Since mice cannot accept human psychological hints, the finding in our study has significant implication in clarification of such a debate. More systematic studies in animals are needed to further understand the mechanism of Qigong therapy for cancer. |
