Petty Spurge for Basal Cell Carcinoma


5 star (2) 
  100%

Showing 5 Star Reviews

Sherri (Seattle) on 10/28/2023
5 out of 5 stars

Hello Cathie,

This year, for the first time, I found a patch of Petty Spurge growing wild in my garden. I researched it and found amazing uses for it. It is actually a beautiful "weed". I applied the sap very carefully to a spot on my nose and it worked!

INTERESTING INFO

The botanical name is Euphorbia peplus. Other common names include Cancer Weed, Wart Weed, Milk Weed and Radium Weed.

Petty spurge, and all other Euphorbias, are named for a Greek physician of King Juba II (50 BC), Euphorbus, who discovered the medicinal uses of the Euphorbias. It is the only genus of plants that has all three kinds of photosynthesis, CAM, C3 and C4. "Spurge" is derived from Middle English/Old French, "to purge" due to its use as a purgative. All Euphorbias have a caustic milky sap, "latex", which can cause burning to mucousal tissues.

It has long been used successfully as a traditional remedy to treat sunspots, corns, warts, non-melanoma skin cancers (BCC, SCC), actinic keratosis, waxy growths, skin blemishes, and other common skin lesions. it is also used as a tincture to treat other conditions. It was described by Nicolas Culpeper’s Complete Herbalist (1826) as “A good treatment for warts”.
It has always been used for sunspots in Australia.
In 1997, Dr Aylward isolated one of the active ingredients, a diterpene ester called Ingenue mebutate, which he discovered was toxic to rapidly replicating human tissue.

Clinical trials of Picato, a gel derived from milkweed sap, suggests it is effective at stopping lesions turning into skin cancer. And, an Australian company called Peplin Biotech is conducting research and developing a gel from the sap of Euphorbia peplus as a simple topical treatment for certain skin cancers, such as basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. According to Peplin Biotech, the sap penetrates the skin and destroys the malignant tissue.

There are several ways to use Petty Spurge to treat BCC.

RAW SAP:

Pick a fresh stem and wait for the white sap to exude and apply 1 drop only to the lesion (avoid surrounding skin). Apply 1-2 times daily for 1-7 days, usually 2-4 days. Can cover with a bandaid and leave overnight. Note: some have noted they had to repeat the treatment to completely clear out the infection.

Each day use a fresh stem.

Some people mix it with aloe vera gel (50:50,70:30) in which case it might take longer (weeks to months) to resolve though with much less irritation. Apply a thin layer to the affected area only.

When using the raw sap, if there is abnormal growth, there is a strong reaction to the sap. The area will fester, redden, and scab which eventually falls off leaving fresh pink skin. At this point, aloe vera gel can be applied to aid healing.

There are a few points that need to be applied when using the raw sap:

1. When plucking the stems to extract sap, choose the small stems first. The first time you use it only use a tiny dot of the sap, to see how you react and how the lesion reacts.

2. IMPORTANT
Wear gloves and do not allow the sap to get onto your fingers, lips, eyes, nose, genitals or onto healthy skin. Care must be used not to allow the sap onto unaffected skin or anywhere near the eyes. THIS IS IMPORTANT. The eye can be affected more seriously by inflammation because it is easily scarred and cause loss and clarity of vision. It is toxic if ingested and will cause blistering wherever it is applied. If even a tiny dab gets in your eyes, it can cause excruciating pain, redness, swelling and even blindness. Take care not to inadvertently rub your eye when handling the sap. Sweating, rubbing or washing may inadvertently carry the sap into the mouth or eyes causing causing inflammation and scarring.

Congealed latex is insoluble in water though can be removed with an emulsifier such as soap and milk.

3. Apply the sap only to the most prominent and specific tissue only.

4. The lesion should be cleaned with soap and water and dried before applying the sap.

5. Do not over treat. Once or twice per day is more than enough. If the area starts to bleed discontinue. Most people apply it once daily, usually at bedtime.

6. It is recommended to see a doctor or alternative healthcare specialist before self-treating.

A typical sequence of healing is listed below. Obviously it will vary a lot, depending on what you are treating, the severity, your state of health and age, and other conditions.

Day 1: Redness surrounding the lesion, sometimes mild localised pain.
Days 2-3: Swelling, red area spreads. There may be some level of pain from the lesion.
Days 4-5: lesion may ooze or form a crater.
Day 6. Lesion starts to dry, no pain, there may be some itching.
Day 7. Scab starts to form.
Days 7-14. Scab heals and falls off.

Do not pick at the scab that forms. It will delay healing, may cause infection, and may cause a scar. It is tempting to pick but let it come off on its own.

Keratosis. When treating keratoses, on day 4 erythema (redness), flaking/scaling and crusting may peak.

VARIOUS DIY SALVES

Apply a thin coat to the affected area daily until resolved.

1. Petty Spurge sap, Wheat germ oil, Grapeseed oil, Mango Butter, Vitamin E.

2. Petty Spurge Sap, Sorbolene (emulsified coconut wax).

3. Petty Spurge 3%, aloe leaf juice, coconut oil, almond oil, emulsifying beeswax, Vitamin E (tocopheryl acetate), Vitamin A (retinyl palmitate), Vitamin D (ergocalciferol). All ingredients are organic.

COMMERCIAL GELS

There are several companies that make a cream from the sap, some are sold on Amazon (e.g., PhytoMedx Suphorbia Cream). The active ingredient in Euphorbia peplus sap is ingenol mebutate, which has been approved by the FDA in the United States of America for use as a gel on skin lesion. Treatment appears to involve applying the gel 0.05% once daily for two or three consecutive days to the surface of the BCC or SCC lesion.

Study:

Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
5.2. Petty Spurge (Euphorbia peplus (L.))

The latex of the lactiferous petty spurge contains toxic diterpene esters such as ingenol mebutate. A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluated the efficacy of 0.025% and 0.05% ingenol mebutate gel compared to placebo in 200 patients with actinic keratoses. The topical products were applied once daily for three days. Both ingenol mebutate concentrations were highly effective (75% and 100% clearing, versus 0% clearing with placebo). Ingenol mebutate induces a localized necrosis of the treated skin, followed by an inflammatory response, crusting and subsequent clearing of the treated area. Scar formation was not observed [53] (LOE-A). These results were confirmed in another randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study [54] (LOE-A). Ingenol mebutate gel was approved in 2013 as a prescription drug (150 µg/g gel and 500 µg/g gel).

RESEARCH

Recent research into Petty Spurge has shown that a wide range of cancer cells is acutely sensitive to this substance.

In many studies, the Active Ingredient: Ingenol Mebutate -
is an activator of Protein Kinase C which is a key factor in the treatment of cancer.
In laboratory experiments against leukemia cells lines, Ingenol Mebutate (Ingenol-3-angelate) was found to be both selective in targeting leukemia cells and that the leukemia cells are highly sensitive to the small doses being applied.
in laboratory trials with skin cancer in mice, 3 daily topical applications resulted in significant clearance.
intermediate clinical trials (Phase IIa) against Sunspots (Actinic Keratosis) resulted in significant clearance.
Phase I/II clinical trials show that the sap from Petty Spurge resulted in significant clearance of human non-melanoma skin cancers.
Caution: Petty Spurge sap is toxic and should not be used internally.

An interesting study found uses for other cancer types:

Anticancer Drugs. 2007 Mar;18(3):357-62. doi: 10.1097/CAD.0b013e3280149ec5.
Proceedings of the First International Conference on PEP005

Steven M Ogbourne 1, Peter Hampson, Janet M Lord, Peter Parsons, Peter A De Witte, Andreas Suhrbier

PMID: 17264770 DOI: 10.1097/CAD.0b013e3280149ec5
Abstract

The sap of Euphorbia peplus, commonly know as 'petty spurge', 'radium weed' or 'milkweed' has been used for centuries as a traditional treatment for skin conditions, including warts, corns and cancers of the skin. Documentation of its use by medical professionals to treat basal cell carcinoma (BCC) dates from the early 19 century. Individuals who participated in a 1988 survey of home treatments for cancer indicated the sap of E. peplus was an effective cure for actinic lesions leading the investigators to suggest that this potential utility should be further explored in controlled clinical trials. The fractionation of the sap E. peplus using solvents of varying polarity yielded several macrocyclic diterpenes, many of which were found to have cytotoxic activity or the ability to influence cellular differentiation. Ultimately, ingenol 3-angelate (I3A) of PEP005, emerged as a promising potential new anti-cancer treatment. Here we report the proceedings from the First International Conference on PEP005, covering the exciting potential of PEP005 as the therapeutic agent for the treatment of skin cancer, leukemia and bladder cancer.

REPLY   7      

Ianl (Australia) on 05/01/2016
5 out of 5 stars

Hello all,

I just discovered this wonderful site so forgive my ignorance if this topic has been extensively covered. I noticed that a lot has been written here about using Petty Spurge (euphorbia peplus) for successfully curing warts but I have been using it for several years now to treat non-melanoma skin cancers. Having grown up on the beaches of Australia, I have suffered most of my adult life from the effects of both basal and squamous cell carcinomas and have had extensive (and invasive) excisions and curettage treatments to remove frequent growths. After intense research I tracked down some Petty Spurge herb seeds from a reputable supplier and I now grow my own treatment. I still return for annual check ups with my local dermatologist (such is my paranoia for keeping this dreaded disease under control) but I have not had any need for traditional surgery since using this wonderful herb. Happy to elaborate if anyone would like more info!

REPLY   8