Black salve

Black salve, also known by the brand name Cansema, is a controversial 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 Escharotics were widely used to treat skin lesions in the early 1900s, but have since been replaced by safer and more effective treatments.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. Cancer salves were first documented as a form of quackery in a 1955 Time article: 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: