Replied By Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 05/02/2016

I'd love to hear how you use it, or rather, it's sap.

Replied By Jim (Frostburg) on 05/02/2016

I've been growing petty spurge around my home since 2009. I also grow bloodroot but of the two I prefer the spurge for ridding those skin maladies that arrive through age and exposure to the face and neck. A tiny drop of the white sap destroys the outer layer of just about any odd growth and the scab peels away in 7-days, revealing fresh new tissue. Sometimes that single droplet is not enough and the critter grows back; however, doing the same three-days in a row effectively gets to the root of deeper growths. It does ache a bit when you go that 'extra mile', in similar to a bloodroot salve.

The spurge will grow and die back at least twice each Summer. It can be grown indoors if needed for the Winter. The tiny seeds are not harmed by the intense Winters hereabouts.

Every year I attempt to harness the chemical within the plant, so as to have it available in a bottle or salve. So far, I have only managed a weak effect requiring numerous applications --the full power derived via that fresh teensy droplet from the living plant yet alludes me.

Replied By Ianl (Australia) on 05/04/2016

Yes, I went through the surgical approach, like you, until they started to run out of areas on my body to add new scars to!

The Petty Spurge sap topical treatments have left me scarless - although the first time I used it, I was concerned it might leave me with rather large pockmarks.

I applied the sap for 3 days straight - at roughly the same time each day. First day was an almost immediate reaction (but not painful), 2nd day was more reactive and definitely sensitive. 3rd day I almost felt I had overdone it! Once you get over the shock (and ignore too much visual contact with family & friends who suspect you might have a communicable disease! ) it really becomes very manageable. The open wounds created by the application will dry out and scabs will drop off (along with the BCC's) in a matter of days. For oversensitive skin a mild application of antiseptic cream after the 3rd day does help.

The key to this is only treating one BCC at a time. Any more than that can become quite irritating.

I have not tried alternative approaches such as black salve, eggplant extract, etc. I'm sure these are all effective in their own right as people on this forum will attest to, but for me, personally, Petty Spurge sap has been extremely effective and has helped me manage my ongoing battle with non-melanoma skin cancers with confidence.

Replied By Ianl (Australia) on 05/04/2016

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the bloodroot approach but would like to learn more about that if you have time to elaborate?

Like you, I use the Petty Spurge sap for 3 days straight and - like you - find the 3rd day to be the most uncomfortable, albeit a mild discomfort when compared to the surgical "cut & stitch" alternative I endured multiple times over previous years!

I live in Western Australia and have found the plants thrive from the fall through to spring. They don't enjoy our long hot summers very much but seem to endure and self-seed regardless. A truly remarkable herb that seems to need very little care and attention once propagated. I've also had limited success collecting the sap and preserving it.

I did find a cottage business here that seems to have done this - although I think they may have added sorbolene to increase the volume.

Interestingly, I discovered this little plant after being prescribed a topical treatment called "Picato" by my dermatologist. One small tube allowed for 3 treatments and cost me A$140! It worked well, but I figured to treat all my BCC's over time would amount to thousands of dollars, so I researched the key ingredient in Picato and found it to be "ingenol mebutate" - and guess what the key component of Petty Spurge sap happens to be?

I know you can find the plant growing in the wild but as I was not well versed in identifying it, I located a reputable supplier and invested all of A$12 for a healthy batch of seeds. I now have a long term supply growing in my backyard.

Replied By Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 05/05/2016

Curious what you did after a once-a-day three-day application. Mine was a two year battle so maybe it would have needed more after the initial 3 days.

Just trying to know how this works!

Replied By Ianl (Australia) on 05/05/2016

I think the herb has varying degrees of effectiveness for each user. In a survey they conducted in Australia using ingenol mebutate (produced by Petty Spurge) to treat non-melanoma skin cancers, they had an 85% success rate. That's pretty impressive but still means 15% of users found it to be ineffective. For myself, a 3 day application was ample. I never went beyond that schedule as I didn't need to. If you say it didn't work for you then I guess you might be in that 15% category, but since you had the expected reaction to the initial treatment it does seem strange that you didn't get the desired result.

Maybe someone reading this forum can answer that as I'm a little lost as to why it didn't work for you.

Replied By Izabela (Australia) on 05/06/2016

Replied By Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 05/06/2016

Replied By Jim (Frostburg) on 05/07/2016

The fresh dark-red sap from the bloodroot plant is comparatively much weaker than the petty spurge, requiring several applications over the day. The bloodroot sap can be evaporated down to a tar, applied as a blob, then covered by a bandaid to help its effectiveness; or the tar can be combined with glycerine and a skin-softening adjunct, such as zinc chloride, to help its attack against the skin malady. DMSO is added by some who make their own salve. The belief is that DMSO helps the destructive agents penetrate to the 'root' of the nasty. Most formulators buy the dried bloodroot powdered; then add water and the other agents, gently cooking it all down to a 'mud'. Again, you put on a blob and cover it with a bandaid and within about 12 hours you feel the dull but increasing ache of the resultant skin-necrosis. Within a day or so the site of the problem looks so amazingly bad that anyone seeing it will tell you to get to the hospital. But the 'mud' has done it's work and all that redness and hurt will slowly go away as the good surrounding skin expels the necrosis.

Some claim bloodroot will only kill bad skin. It does destry weaker skin first; but given enough time it will also attack 'good' skin.

It is typical to develop actinic or other skin damage spots on the nose. I would advise one never apply a bloodroot salve to the nose, as the actual skin layer is so very thin that the resulting necrosis can produce an actual hole into your nasal cavity. Instead, I use a single drop of petty spurge which will destroy only the outer skin-layer. If the nasty returns, again use only the single application of the spurge. Applying the sap three times in three days can result in a hole, also. One has more 'surgical' control with the spurge.

If you have plenty of Greater Celandine growing nearby then a similarly effective concoction can be gleaned through trial-and-error. The orange sap of the greater celandine contains the same destructive alkaloid as bloodroot.

The dandelion and common milkweed plants (of the USA) also have a caustic effect on damaged skin, but are so much weaker when pitted against that tiny droplet of petty spurge.

I've read where the Picato gel costs nearly $600 in the US.

Replied By Ianl (Australia) on 05/08/2016

Very much appreciate your detailed explanation of how the bloodroot plant works. You have done a huge amount of research and are obviously and expert in this area. I had no prior knowledge of this process and can see it does seem quite arduous compared to the petty spurge treatment. I wonder if you have found it is as effective, considering the amount of preparation involved? I think I'll stick with the latter as it certainly seems a little more manageable. As per your notes, I did have that issue of a small crater forming on my nose after, perhaps, one too many applications. Thankfully, the skin grew over in a few weeks but definitely something to be careful with.

Picato is extremely expensive and $600 per pack would not surprise me at all! Having treated myself with both the gel and the herb, I can honestly say the results were both positive - the noticeable point of differentiation being that the latter was free!

NB: I did pay $12 for seeds as my initial and one off investment!

Replied By Hjhnhg (Uk) on 06/18/2017

Replied By Tom (California) on 11/10/2017

Replied By Cathie (Scotland ) on 10/17/2023

Replied By Sherri (Seattle) on 10/28/2023

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.