Fire is also natural, consider diathermy. This uses heat to destroy the cancer. In summary, there are many natural ways to help fight cancer, ideally a pre & post biopsy is best. Identifying the type of cancer prior to treatment with cansema will also give you time to sort out your will. 

For example, treating aggressive melanoma or Merkel cell carcinoma with Cansema -Black Salve may give you 2-4 months before probable metastatic spread. Sorting your will early will improve your quality of life towards the later stages of terminal metastatic cancer.

Lasers? Laser is natural light, concentrated to a beam. In the context of cancer, they target water in the skin. Lasers can treat superficial cancers including sunspots, IEC, & superficial BCCs. Lasers are not indicated for deeper or more aggressive forms of skin cancer as the rate of clearance is low, & the chances of metastatic spread is high.

Your supervising naturopathic skin cancer expert can guide you. If you have any concerns, seek a second option from a skin cancer GP or your dermatologist. In some cases, they may advise you on a biopsy.

In other cases, they may suggest a PET scan, MRI, Ultrasound or a CT scan to see how far the partially treated cancer has spread in your body.

If you have palpable lymph nodes during your cansema treatment, it may be a reactive immunological process, or invasive cancer spreading from the original site. Check with your naturopath as to the type of imaging or sentinel node biopsies that they prefer.

If you must, the ‘safest’ skin cancer to treat with Cansema is a superficial BCC, preferably located on the arm, or trunk. This has the least potential to spread, additionally the least potential to involve nerves (perineural invasion).

Incompletely treated invasive cancers on the head & neck can invade nerves. The earliest signs of nerve invasion include tingling, paresthesia & ‘electric shocks.’

Once in the brain, you may experience some minor inconvenience in your life– examples include uncontrollable fitting, tremors, collapse, & memory loss. This should not be confused with the side effects of medicinal cannabis you may be taking for the terminal pain associated with the spread of the cancer you attempted to treat with Cansema. 

Skin cancers that should not be played around with include-

• SCC or squamous cell cancers
• BCCs other than superficial
• Melanomas
• Atypical skin cancers

Follow the instructions on the packaging. Most black slave products contain emulsifying agents, hence the need to mix or stir before application. Use a toothpick or the end of a cotton bud. Most formulations will turn from black to dark green after 30 seconds of mixing. Formulations differ, hence follow the instructions.

Disclaimer: My role is not to discredit nor advocate cansema use. For my balanced viewpoint, read the paragraph at the end of this page.

Black salve can be applied with a fingertip application, remember to wash your hands before & after application (make sure you don’t touch your genitals or another person’s genitals with cansema).

Apply the product with a 5 to 7 mm clinical margin on the lesion in question. Ideally a biopsy should be taken beforehand. A skin cancer GP can do this for you.

Application of Cansema is followed by tingling of the treated area. This may last a few hours. Typically, after 24 hours, Cansema is removed, then reapplied as above. Be guided by your holistic skin cancer expert.

Most patients will experience mild pain & stinging. A minority will experience pain. If you experience pain, Panadol or Nurofen may be taken (sort of hypocritical to take these medications when you are contemplating a natural remedy).

In this case, if you live in an area where medicinal cannabis is legal you may inhale some Mary Jane, inhale a reefer, smoke some blunt, buds, stinkweed, hay, pot, weed, grass, rope, gangster, boom, blunt, or good quality ganga. This will take away the pain associated with the Cansema application. This can also be used to alleviate the pain you may feel from secondary metastatic cancer if Cansema does not work & your SCC or melanoma spreads to your lungs & brain.

A good way to manage skin cancer using creams of any sort, is to treat one lesion at a time. Good photographic documentation (with or without biopsies) are required. This way your naturopathic doctor can pick up early cancer recurrence before it spreads to your lymph nodes. 

If you experience pain, treating one lesion at a time can decrease discomfort. For very large skin cancers, your naturopath may ask you to apply Black Salve in sections. Be guided by their expertise in the management of skin cancers as they have an extensive knowledge of skin pathology & the anatomy of draining lymph nodes.

Cansema causes eschar or scab formation. Most naturopaths who advocate Black Salve advise treatment of 10-21 days. There is no scientific literature to prove or disclaim the duration of treatment.

The longer the treatment, the higher the chances of resolution, however the higher the incidence of scarring.

Some practicing Cansema users do not advise a second or third treatment as reapplication can result in more scarring (on top of the first application). With subsequent applications there will be more pigment loss & bigger holes. Other Cansema practitioners advocate a second or third course of Cansema to mop up any recurrence.

If there is clinical evidence of recurrence, a sensible course of action would be to clear up your skin cancer (as this was the aim of initial treatment). It is important to rule out cancer spread. Simple biopsies can be done by a doctor. Clinical examinations include lymph node palpation. Amelanotic melanomas can look like benign Basal Cell Cancers or even IEC – Bowen’s (Google Image Search: Amelanotic Melanoma.) For these lesions, recurrence usually requires a PET Scan or imaging to exclude spread to other sites, including the liver, lung or brain.

Disclaimer: I do not do routine skin checks, nor do I manage skin cancers. My work focuses on treatment of scarring from skin cancer surgery.

It really depends on the age of the patient, the location & the aggression of the tumour. For example, if it is a superficial BCC or IEC on the arm of someone in their 80s, chances are, the patient will outlive the tumour.

On the contrary, if the tumour is say an amelanotic melanoma on someone in their 30s, chances are, metastatic spread will occur within 6-12 months if incompletely treated. If you have undergone treatment of your skin cancer with Cansema, see a skin cancer doctor or your dermatologist for follow up.

Disclaimer: I do not do routine skin checks, nor do I make the call regarding cancer clearance. My job is to repair the scars caused by all forms of skin cancer therapy including surgical, curette, freezing, & chemical treatments such as Cansema.

Cansema works by causing severe inflammation & necrosis, eating away at tissue (both tumor & normal skin). This treatment is classed as escharotic; which means it forms an eschar or big black scab devoid of any blood supply. Similar effects can be given with battery acid. The aim of black salve is to give a large & deep eschar. This has the best chance of treating skin cancer.

Most cases of Cansema treatment will leave a scar (as this is the endpoint). The majority of scars are devoid of pigment, known as a depigmented or hypopigmented scar. In most cases the scars are atrophic (divots or holes), in some cases the scars are hypertrophic or raised. Occasionally they are keloid.

Vitamins A,B & C are used by dermatologists to reduce sun damage & to treat sun spots. Retinoids are vitamin A derivatives & include retinoic acid, retinol & retinaldehyde.

Niacinamide or Vitamin B3 is an effective treatment for managing actinic or solar keratosis . It can reduce the burden of new sun spots & reduce pre-existing ones by up to 35%. The ideal dose is 500 mg B3 twice a day. Oral vitamin B is more effective than topical niacinamide.

Ascorbic acid or vitamin C is the most powerful antioxidant. It works by reducing UV & environmental damage to skin cells. This topical should be used in the am as a second layer of defence, underneath sunscreen.

If I suspect that there is recurrence of cancer, I will refer patients to my medical colleagues for management. Simple biopsies or serial photographs can determine if the treatment is effective. Depending on the skin cancer treated, lymph node palpation is part of the clinical examination.

If there is no evidence of cancer recurrence, procedures such as laser resurfacing can be conducted to reduce scars. If there are areas of atrophy, (holes or divots), several sessions of autologous fat grafting may be required in order to correct contours changes. Pigmentation changes such as hypopigmentation are harder to correct. The use of pigment cell transplantation such as Recell may be required.

Depending on the type of skin cancer, a dermatologist may offer you more ‘nat treats’ (natural treatments). The first is with a gas that is found in the atmosphere. It accounts for 78% of the stuff we BREATHE, hence you can’t get more natural than that. How to use?

• Nitrogen is frozen to below minus 195.8 degrees. It is called liquid nitrogen
• This is then applied to the skin for a duration of time (5 to 15 seconds) in cycles of 1-2

A second way is with chemicals found in nature. This group of chems are called porphyrins. They are activated by natural light to kill cancer cells as the compounds are preferentially absorbed in skin cancer cells. This treatment is called PDT.

For more on skin cancer management, consult my colleagues at Cutis Dermatology in Brisbane.