Black salve

Black salve, also known by the brand name Cansema, is pseudoscientific alternative cancer treatment. The product is commonly classified as an escharotic—a topical paste which destroys errant skin tissue and leaves behind a scar called an eschar. Escharotics were widely used to treat skin lesions in the early 1900s, but have since been replaced by safer and more effective treatments. Escharotics, such as black salves, are currently advertised by some alternative medicine marketers as treatments for skin cancer, often with unsubstantiated testimonials and unproven claims of effectiveness.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has listed Cansema as a "fake cancer cure" and warns consumers to avoid it.

Usages and dangers

Loss of left naris after use of corrosive black salve ointment for suspected melanoma. Same patient as shown above.

Cancer salves were first documented as a form of quackery in a 1955 Time article:

"A 37-year-old housewife had a skin condition that later (at Duke) proved not to be a cancer. Convinced that it was, she had gone to a backwoods healer, who applied a salve. Soon a quarter-sized hole disfigured her nose, opened up the nasal cavity. Duke's plastic surgeons had to build her a new nose."

Although more recent reports document that some alternative medicine practitioners use the internet to market escharotics as purported "cures" for skin cancer, they are not recommended as treatments for skin lesions or skin cancer by medical authorities. The effectiveness of escharotics is unproven, while safer and more effective conventional treatments exist for skin cancers, such as: cryotherapy; topical agents such as imiquimod, fluorouracil and ingenol mebutate; radiation therapy; and surgical excision, including Mohs surgery (microscopically controlled surgery used to remove and test cancerous tissue).

Escharotics can cause serious scarring and damage to normal skin. Their manufacture is largely unregulated, so the strength and purity of marketed products are unknown and unverified. Numerous reports in the medical literature describe serious consequences of using escharotics in place of standard treatments for skin cancer, ranging from disfigurement to preventable cancer recurrences. The website Quackwatch posted a warning against the use of escharotics in 2008, with a collection of sourced documents compiling issues of patient injury from their use. A more recent study revealed that many individuals who have used black salve were unaware of its potential dangers. In a 2016 news release titled "Beware of black salve," the American Academy of Dermatology urged patients to consult a dermatologist before using home remedies for skin cancers.

Furthermore, individuals increase their risk of further complications or death if they choose to delay conventional medical treatment to attempt treatment with black salve. In 2017, a patient with breast cancer posted photos and updates to a black salve research group as she progressed through her black salve applications. Despite her worsening condition, she truly believed that the black salve was going to cure her cancer. “And please no comments to see a doctor. I’ve been there. This is my path and I trust in it and my God who is healing me”, she wrote. Eventually she sought conventional treatment, but died of a prolonged infection some months later.

It was reported in 2018, that the use of black salve had been expanded to include pets. In a similar black salve discussion group, people described the use of black salve on their cats, dogs and horses. Over the course of eight months, one member posted photos of the black salve's ongoing effects on her dog's nasal cancer, whilst another documented and questioned its use on her horse.

In 2018 in Australia black salve has been strongly linked to the death of Helen Lawson who decided to use "natural remedies" under the direction of self-proclaimed healer Dennis Wayne Jensen. Jensen advocated covering Lawson's abdomen in black salve claiming it would draw out the ovarian cancer, leaving Lawson with a mass of wounds on her abdomen:

“You have never seen anything like what happened to Helen. It is so confronting,” [Lawson's sister-in-law, Deb Davies] said. “Literally above her pubic bone, all across her abdomen almost up to her rib cage, she was raw, mutilated bubbling flesh.” [Lawson's partner of 21 years, Belinda Davies] said that within a few weeks of Helen applying the black salve the wound was so large that surgeons could not have operated even if they had wanted to.

Lawson died in April 2018.

Subsequently, Jensen was issued an interim prohibition order, by the Health Complaints Commissioner, forbidding practicing any health services whilst the death of Lawson is being investigated. This was pursuant to section 90 of the Health Complaints Act 2016 (Victoria, Australia)

Ingredients

Common ingredients of black salves include zinc chloride, chaparral (also known as creosote bush), and often bloodroot, a plant frequently used in herbal medicine. The extract of bloodroot is called sanguinarine, a quaternary benzophenanthridine alkaloid which attacks and destroys living tissue and is also classified as an escharotic.

Other formulations include the four ingredients: Red Clover, Galangal, Sheep Sorrel, and Blood Root, crushed into a paste using mortar and pestle. This is applied sparingly to the affected area, and kept covered for 2-3 days.

Regulation

Australia

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia is advising consumers against purchasing or using black salve, red salve or cansema products. The TGA has found the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network (AVN) in breach of advertising regulations, and in a separate finding the AVN's former president Meryl Dorey together with Leon Pittard of Fair Dinkum Radio were found to be in breach.

United States of America

Cansema is listed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as one of 187 fake cancer cures. Cansema continues to be marketed by numerous individuals, as evidenced by recent FDA Warning Letters. The FDA has taken enforcement action against illegal marketing of Cansema as a cancer cure, as in the 2004 arrest and conviction of Greg Caton.

The FDA has taken an active role in the banning of these chemicals for use as a cancer cure. Typical warning letters detail the dangers of this product while also admonishing the purveyors of their obligation to comply with federal law. Summaries of recent letters are cataloged on the FDA website.

See also

• List of ineffective cancer treatments

Further reading

• Hurley D. Natural Causes: Death, Lies, and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry. New York: Broadway Books, 2006. ISBN 0-7679-2042-2

External links

• Cancer Salves: American Cancer Society
• Escharotics information: New Zealand Dermatological Society
• Bloodroot:Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Herbal Database. Web. Retrieved 10 Jun 10
• Escharotics information: Therapeutic Goods Administration
• Photo series illustrating harmful effects of black salve treatment.

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