Oldenlandia, 白花蛇舌草 Bai Hua She She Cao and Scutellaria Barbata, 半枝蓮 Ban Zhi Lian an Effective Herbal Pair for Toxic Heat and Cancer Support
by Greg Zimmerman
August, 2025
Oldenlandia, 白花蛇舌草 Bai Hua She She Cao and Scutellaria Barbata, 半枝蓮 Ban Zhi Lian are two medicinal herbs that clear pathogenic heat and resolve toxins (清熱解毒 qing re jie du) frequently used to treat abscesses, sores, and carbuncles associatged with the traditional Chinese external medical theory (中醫外科 zhong yi wai ke), jaundice and painful urination caused by damp-heat, and are also frequently used to treat cancer and support cancer treatments in either traditional East-Asian medical treatments or in contemporary integrative oncology.
They are commonly used together as an herbal pair (藥對yao dui), especially when treating cancer. The nature of their pairing is traditionally refered to as “mutually reinforcing,” (相須 xiang xu) where one medicinal herb enhances the primary therapeutic action of the other. In this case, Scutellaria Barbata enhances the anti-toxic, anti-cancer, and stasis-resolving effects of Oldenlandia. Together, their comprehensive therapeutic effects include clearing pathogenic heat and resolving toxins, invigorating blood and reducing stasis (活血化瘀huo xue hua yu), and reducing swelling and masses (消腫散結 xiao zhong san jie).
Historically, both Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barbata entered the Chinese materia medica relatively late and were categorized as herbs that “clear heat and resolve toxin.” Their traditional indications center on abcessess, sores, and carbuncles (癰疽瘡潰瘍 yong ju chuang kui yang), the hallmark conditions of traditional Chinese external medicine. It is interesting to note that hey are not mentioned in early texts such as the The Divine Husbandman’s Herbal Foundations Canon (神農本草經 Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing). Rather, they were recorded later in history during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Scutellaria Barbata was described in 1593 in the Herbal Foundation Compendium (本草綱目 Ben Cao Gang Mu), the famous Ming Dynasty materia medica written by Li Shizhen (李時珍), where it was described as a cooling medicinal that treats snakebites and sores. Oldenlandia was described later in 1765, in the Supplement to the Herbal Foundation Compendium (本草綱目拾遺 Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi), a Qing Dynasty Text written by Zhao Xuemin (趙學敏), to treat heat toxin, snakebite, sore swelling, jaundice, and dysentery. According to these descriptions, both of these medicinals have a therapeutic action to clear heat and cool, and to treat snakebites and sores attributed to heat toxins.
In traditional Chinese external medicine, abscesses, sores, and carbuncles are categorized according to etiology and stage. These etiologies include heat toxin (熱毒 re du), qi and blood disharmony (氣滯血瘀 qi zhi xue yu), and deficiency of the upright qi (正氣虛zheng qi xu), which are further categorized into four stages: early stage (初期 chu qi) , suppurative stage (成膿期 cheng nong qi), ulcerative stage (潰瘍期 kui yang qi) , and healing stage (癒合期 yu he qi). The early stage is identified by localized swelling, heat, redness, and pain; the suppurative stage has pus formation and more obvious swelling; the ulceration stage has discharge of pus with an odor when the heat toxin is more severe; and the healing stage has granulation and closure (depends on the qi and blood condition). Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barbata are often used in the early and supportive stages of abcesses, sores, and carbuncles.
According to Traditional East Asian Medicine’s (TEAM) literature, cancer is associated with qi deficiency, blood stasis, and toxic stasis, sharing toxic stasis as an etiological factor. While cancer is traditionally viewed as having its roots in abcsesses, sores, and carbuncles, it’s etiology progressively includes toxic accumulations and blood stasis, which contribute to the development of cancers and cancerous lesions and tumors. The combination of Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barbata inclusively address heat toxins as well as accumulations of toxins that lead to binding and stasis.
Bensky’s Materia Medica reports that Oldenlandia has a bitter and sweet flavor, a cold temperature, and enters the liver, stomach, large intestine, and small intestine channels. It’s therapeutic actions are to: clear heat and resolve fire toxicity, and reduce abscesses indicated for intestinal abscesses, toxic sores, ulcerations, and swellings; clear heat and facilitate resolution of dampness by promoting urination for hot painful urinary dribbling and damp-heat jaundice. While not mentioned as a therapeutic action in Bensky, Oldenlandia is additionally attributed with an action to invigorate the blood by other texts such as the Guanxi Chinese Materia Medica, 廣西中藥材Guǎngxī Zhōng Yàocái.
The dosing of these two medicinals should be noted because they are often used at higher dosages when treating cancer and at the traditional dosages when treating heat-toxins in non-cancerous conditions. In Bensky, the dosages of each are defined at 15-30g when using the dried herb. However, reports observe that higher dosages are suggested when used to treat cancer. For example, in a study observing Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barbata for breast cancer, it was noted that they needed to be used at a dose of 60g or higher for best clinical usage (Ma, et al.) This higher dosage may not be needed in other case uses, such as when clearing heat and resolving heat toxins for abscesses, sores, and carbuncles or when treating damp-heat jaundice or painful urinary dribbling. Practitioners should maintain an equivalent dosing strategy when using concentrated medicinal herbal extracts. To illustrate we can consider an example where Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barbata are used as an herbal pair and added to augment a formula that has been selected to treat an individual’s disease condtion, as is often the case. In this example, Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barbata may be added to Minor Bupleurum Combination (小柴胡湯 Xiao Chai Hu Tang) at a dosage of 15g each to treat a non-cancerous red, swollen, painful sore caused by toxic heat in a patient diagnosed with lesser yang disease pattern (少陽病證 shao yang bing zheng). Based on an assumed average 5:1 concentration ratio, that same prescription would use approximately 3g of each Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barabata concentrated medicinal herb granule extracts. If the same prescription is made for a patient to treat cancer in the same lesser yang disease pattern, Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barbata can be used at an increased dosage of 30-60g dried medicinal herbs, or the equivalent 5g-10g concentrated medicinal herb granule extracts. In other words, when dosing Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barabata as an herbal pair, we can use the standard 15-30g dosage of each of the dried herbs or their equivalent 3-6g of the concentrated medicinal herbal extracts when they are used to clear heat and resolve toxins, clear damp-heat, promote urination, or move blood, but when using them to address cancer and tumors we can consider increasing the dosage of each to 30-60g of the dried herbs or their equivalent 6-12g of the concentrated medicinal herbal extracts to promote clinical efficacy.
Olendlandia has several pharmacological properties including anticancer, antioxidant, and immunoregulation. It’s anticancer properties have caused it to be one of the more famous medicinal herbs used in TEAM. The active components in Oldenlandia stimulate cell death in prostate, cervical, colorectal, and stomach malignancies and can slow liver cancer cell growth. Scutellara Barbata also has several pharmacological mechanisms including anticancer, antioxidant, antiviral. It can inhibit the capacity of cancer cells to migrate and promote the death of colon cancer cells. Here properties associated with cancer treatment are mentioned, however, these medicinal herbs have many other pharmacuetical properties to explore in addition.
When used to treat cancer and support cancer treatments, Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barbata are frequently used for, but not limited to, the treatment of digestive cancers, lung cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, and cervical cancer.
Although Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barbata are an effective medicinal pair, in most applications they will be used combined with other herbs or formulas that treat the patterns of disease associated with the presentation of abscesses, sores, and carbuncles and cancer. Formulas made by combining Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barabata with medicinal herbs and formulas relevant to the patient’s condition better provides a holistic approach that will fit an individual’s medical presentation. In some cases these can be combined with medicinal herbs that boost the qi and nourish the blood while in other’s to reduce blood stasis and cleat heat toxin. These are examples but in genuine case presentations, the variety of pathologies involved in an individual’s disease presentation is variable and unique.
For example, the combination of Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barabata with Aucklandia & Cardamom Combination, 香砂六君子湯 Xiang Sha Liu Jun Zi Tang may be prescribed in a case of pancreatic cancer if the patient presents with spleen vacuity, cold-damp, and qi stagnation. In another example, they may be combined with Capillaris Combination 茵陳蒿湯Yin Chen Hao Tang in the case of biliary cancer where damp-heat jaundice is observed. These are examples used to illustrate this concept; however, the actual formula choice will be dependent upon individual diagnosis.
Further, Oldenlandia and Scutellaria Barbata can be used together with other herbs that improve their therapeutic actions.
Oldenlandia may be combined with:
● Thalaspi (敗醬草 bai jiang cao) and Sargentodoxa vine (紅藤hong teng) for intestinal abscesses.
● Lonicera (金銀花jin yin hua), Forsythia (連翹lian qiao), and Crysanthemum (菊花ju hua) for boils and other toxic swellings.
● Scrophularia (玄參xuan shen) and Platycodon (桔梗jie geng) for swollen, painful throat.
● Paris rhizoma (重樓chong lou) and Viola (紫花地丁zi hua di ding) for a topical application used for snakebites.
● Chinese lobelia (半邊蓮ban bian lian) and Pyrrosia leaf (石韋shi wei) or with Oldenlandia (白花蛇舌草bai hua she she cao), Plantago Seed (車前子che qian zi), and Pyrrosia leaf (石韋shi wei) for hot painful urinary dribbling and damp-heat jaundice.
● Gardenia (山梔子shan zhi zi), Phellodendron (黃柏huang bai), and Capillaris (茵陳yin chen) for damp-heat jaundice.
Scutellaria Barabata may be combined with:
● Wild Chrysanthemum flower (野菊花ye ju hua) and Viola (紫花地丁zi hua di ding) for furuncles.
● Turtle Shell (鱉甲bie jia), Salvia Root (丹參dan shen), and White Peony (白芍bai shao) for liver cancer.
● Oldenlandia (白花蛇舌草bai hua she she cao) and Akebia Fruit (八月札ba yue zha) for cancers of the digestive tract.
● Alisma (澤瀉ze xie), Chinese Lobelia (白邊蓮bai bian lian), and Corn Silk (玉米鬚yu mi xu) for edema.
● Houttuynia (魚腥草yu xing cao) for pulmonary abscesses.
References
1. Bensky D, Clavey S, Stöger E. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica. 3rd rev ed. Seattle, WA: Eastland Press; 2020.
2. Brand E. Concise Chinese Materia Medica. Paradigm Publications; 2008.
3. Yadav N, Deshmukh R, Mazumder R. A comprehensive review on the use of traditional Chinese medicine for cancer treatment. Pharmacol Res Mod Chin Med. 2024;11:100344. doi:10.1016/j.prmcm.2023.
4. Ma TT, Zhang GL, Dai CF, et al. Scutellaria barbata and Hedyotis diffusa herb pair for breast cancer treatment: Potential mechanism based on network pharmacology. J Ethnopharmacol. 2020;259:112929. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2020.112929
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