TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) uses the herb yu xing cao,
Latin name Houttuynia cordata, in raw form as an anti-tumor
medicine.

The herb is available, fresh and raw, in some Chinese and Vietnamese
stores here on the West coast of the US. [It is in stock right now in
certain Oakland, California Chinatown food stores.]

The herb is referred to as the "fishy smell herb" as it smells and tastes
bad. It is a leafy green, and is ground up in a blender with water
and a bit of salt. It is reputedly a powerful anti-tumor
medicine, and has other properties as well.

You can read about it in most good "Materia Medica" books for TCM.
One such title is by Bensky and Gamble, 1993, Eastland
Press, Seattle, Washington.

PS body brushing as promoted by some raw fooders, is also a TCM
therapy. In TCM it is referred to/translated as "scraping therapy".

Tom Billings