Treatment for recurring melanoma?

[Cannbidoscar]

My grandmother has a recurring melanoma that she had removed around a year ago. Would this be treated best with with an infused coconut oil applied to the skin? I haven't found anything helpful for melanoma treatment online yet.

 

[GrizzWald]

We use milkweed in Australia .
Milkweed
Petty spurge, cancer weed, radium weed
Euphorbia peplus
Warning: Plants may cause contact dermatitis. Also it is paramount that euphorbia’s sap be kept away from the eyes, as there are also cases of Euphorbia sap keratouveitis, which is a sight-threatening infection. Keratouveitis is a term used when there is a combination of keratitis and uveitis. Keratitis occurs when the cornea of the eye becomes inflamed. Uveitis is an inflammation inside the eye. The sap can affect the cornea ‘window’ of the eye, which is always covered with a protective layer of tears, but it can be affected more seriously by inflammation because it is easily scarred and can lose its clarity of vision.

Euphorbia peplus has traditionally been used as a treatment for skin conditions. A recent study has shown that this herb has treatment potential for non-melanoma skin cancer. Early results are promising with basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. The white sap is excellent on skin cancers and insensitive external tumors.

The sap of plants of the family Euphorbiaceae, particularly the genus Euphorbia, has been used in the folk medicine of many countries. The genus was named after an early Greek physician in deference to its purported medicinal properties. Only recently have some of these claims been investigated scientifically. The genus is enormously diverse, ranging from small, low-growing herbaceous plants to shrubs and trees. Nearly all reports of activity of these plants and their extracts are anecdotal or derived from traditional medicine, and the nature of the preparations used is frequently either unknown or very poorly described. Activity has been claimed against a huge variety of conditions, ranging from warts, "excrescences", calluses, "cheloid tumours", corns, whitlows or felons, "superfluous flesh" and the like, to a variety of cancers.

The milky latex sap is toxic, and used as a therapeutic agent for the removal of warts on the skin. It may also be effective in treating superficial basal cell carcinomas.

Milkweed produces a milky sap which contains chemicals that can control cell growth and death (apoptosis). An extract of petty spurge has been tested against cancer cells taken from eight patients with acute myeloid leukaemia, a particularly aggressive cancer of bone marrow stem cells. In seven of the eight samples it killed between 56% and 95% of the cancer cells at the top end of the scale. These results were even achieved using low concentrations of up to a hundredth of those that would damage healthy cells. The sap extract works by activating an enzyme called protein kinase C which triggers controlled cell suicide.

The herb’s ‘latex’ or sap has been employed as a treatment for skin conditions to remove corns and warts; the plant’s use included the treatment of asthma and catarrh. Additionally, E. peplus, as well as E. peploides, E. pilosa, E. palustris, have the reputation of being remedies for hydrophobia. The herb was also generally used in the Ukraine around the turn of the last century as a treatment for cancer of the stomach, liver and uterus.

A decoction or infusion of euphorbia is prepared and taken in tablespoonful doses in asthmatic conditions, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Early Australian folk lore suggested that the irritant also had applications for waxy growths, sun cancer and rodent ulcers (basal cell carcinoma).Petty spurge is considered to be an effective treatment for skin cancer and solar keratoses.

Luckily, this benevolent weed Petty spurge appears to be as tenacious in destroying cancer cells as its roots are for getting in between the cracks of the crazy-paving in the back-yard.

Low concentrations of the compound from it have shown to be very active against a range of tumour cell lines including colon, kidney and blood cancer cells. It may also hold the key to treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer.

One company is set to develop cancer therapeutics based on extracts of petty spurge. They aim to produce a cream to remove skins cancers and systemic drugs for treatment of solid tumours. Already the active component of Euphorbia peplus has been isolated and made into a gel applied directly to the skin.

 

[GrizzWald]

petty-spurge
Petty spurge can be difficult to identify correctly to the untrained eye, so always be certain before applying anything to your skin. Please seek professional advice before commencing any treatment.

So-called 'Cancer Weed' does exist, though it is more commonly known as petty spurge or radium weed (Euphorbia peplus).

It is a herb introduced from Asia and Europe and the white sap has historically been used to treat small (non-melanoma) skin cancers.

There’s a folk saying: “wherever a herb is seen growing abundantly as a naturalised plant, man [or woman] has a need of it,” and true this may be in a country like Australia where the rate of skin cancer is the highest in the world.

Basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas are the most common human cancers, and most Australians will develop one or more of these during their lifetime. In Queensland, the mortality rate is about 50 per cent.

Petty spurge is a common weed mainly found in southern Queensland, but it will grow anywhere the seed falls and thrives in areas that are shaded and well watered. It is suitable for anyone to grow, even in the smallest of gardens. It closely resembles scarlet pimpernel and chickweed, and is also known as the radium plant, or milkweed.

The plant is poisonous so should not be ingested, and can burn unaffected skin, so it should kept well away from the lips and eyes.

To use the weed, people apply the sap once or twice daily to sunspots (basal cell carcinomas) until it becomes red and irritated, eventually scabbing after a few days. The scab is then left to fall off naturally, to ensure no scar is left behind. This method of using the sap of the petty spurge is sometimes also used to treat warts.

However, Professor Ian Olver, CEO of Cancer Council Australia, points out that seeking treatment from your doctor must be your first priority.

Olver told Green Lifestyle: “It's important that anyone who has any type of skin cancer, or suspected skin cancer, speak to their GP to get a proper diagnosis”.

“It's an old wives tale that petty spurge can be used to treat non-melanoma skin cancers. While there have been some studies which have shown that there is potential for components of the weed to be developed into medical treatments in the future, it could be potentially dangerous for individuals to ignore their doctor's advice and use home remedies,” said Olver.

A study published in the British Journal of Dermatology here, from research conducted at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, showed the plant may be useful for topical medicines as it has an agent that seems to be effective in destroying the cells from range of cancers. A pilot trial of 41 Brisbane-based patients found a preparation of petty spurge to be 95 per cent effective in killing basal and squamous cell carcinomas under 16 mm in diameter. The active ingredient, ingenol mebutate, in petty spurge sap can even selectively target leukemia cells, even in very small doses.

As of 2009, the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer costs over $200 million in Australia. In the future, it is possible this weed could help slash the costs to the Australian health system, and perhaps reduce the need for plastic surgeries to remove cancerous skin cells.

If you think you want to give petty spurge a go, you can get a certified-organic plant sent to you from a this nursery, but it's not possible to post petty spurge to Western Australia or Tasmainia.

It goes without saying, avoid the sun between 11am and 2pm, and always remember to 'slip, slop, slap'! If you do need to be in the sun, cover up with a long-sleeved shirt, a hat, and sunnies, and be sure to wear sunscreen to prevent those sunspots in the first place! Read our review of a new, all-natural sunscreen you could choose here.

 

[Cannbidoscar]

Thanks I'll get a look into getting some of this where I am!

 

[valerylots]

I can't give you an answer yet because I'm studying this question myself. I hope that knowledgeable people will answer you here and we will find solutions to our problems together.

 

[Reddog99]

For about five years I've been treating my own skin condition (actinic keratosis) with RSO. Smear a bit on the affected area (a little goes a long way) and cover with paper tape. Renew about every four days. The RSO will slowly cause the treated areas to become red & itchy and the treated are will likely grow larger as the treatment progresses. It can take from about a month to six months for the treated areas to slowly start to heal until you can't tell where the spot was located.

Cannabis doesn't penetrate the skin very well which is the reason for the long treatment period, but it DOES work and it doesn't kill healthy skin cells, unlike conventional medical treatments. I have treated spots on my face, arms, and torso. New spots keep appearing, but never where I've already treated.

 

[Azimuth]

For about five years I've been treating my own skin condition (actinic keratosis) with RSO. Smear a bit on the affected area (a little goes a long way) and cover with paper tape. Renew about every four days. The RSO will slowly cause the treated areas to become red & itchy and the treated are will likely grow larger as the treatment progresses. It can take from about a month to six months for the treated areas to slowly start to heal until you can't tell where the spot was located.

Cannabis doesn't penetrate the skin very well which is the reason for the long treatment period, but it DOES work and it doesn't kill healthy skin cells, unlike conventional medical treatments. I have treated spots on my face, arms, and torso. New spots keep appearing, but never where I've already treated.

Why not add some RSO to something like grapeseed oil which is well absorbed and apply it that way. Think that would help with absorption?