Lin writes that from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) onwards, there was growing recognition in Chinese medicine of cancer as a disease, and a growing number of treatises on the causes, diagnosis and treatment of tumors. For instance, Yang Shiying of the Ming dynasty, in his Renzhai Zhi Zhi Fang, says clearly: "Cancers are protruding or sunken, as hard as stone, and grow rapidly.
林昭庚表示，明清以後，中國醫藥學對癌症的認識日趨深入，對腫瘤的病因、辯證治療等均有更多的論述，像明代的楊士瀛在著作《仁齋直指方》中明確指出「癌者，上高下深，如岩穴之狀，科科累垂，…… 男多發於腹，女多發於乳。」