Black salve

Black salve is a controversial alternative cancer treatment. It has been advocated for the treatment of some foot problems such as corns and verrucae. It is an escharotic that comes as a topical paste with the brand name of ‘Cansema’. It burns and destroys tissues, leaving a black eschar – which is interpreted by alternative practitioners as ‘drawing’ out the cancer. Black salve is not specific to any particular tissue (ie cancer cells) and is damaging to all tissues that it is applied to, hence the potential for harm. Most anecdotes of its use are for squamous and basal cell carcinomas. The anecdotes are not accompanied by biopsy and histology, nor long term follow up.

In the USA, the Federal Drugs Administration (FDA) has banned the importation of black salve and it can not be marketed as a treatment for cancer; they have listed it as a fake cancer cure. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in Australia has issued a warning about black and red salves.

Commentary:

• relies on anecdotes and testimonials and not scientific evidence.
• promoters allege a conspiracy to keep this product from the market to protect the profits of pharmaceutical companies. There is no evidence of any conspiracy.
• There is a Facebook page (Black Salve is dangerous quackery) calling for the banning of Black Slave.
• “Black salves” are corrosive agents that produce thick, dry scabs (“eschar” on the skin.) They can lead to substantial harm and damage. For that reason, a few crazy, delusional or frankly dishonest lunatics have concluded that they cure cancer and have marketed them accordingly. The idea that eschartics can “draw out” cancers from underneath the skin is so insane that it is barely worth commenting on it, but there is some evidence that people back in ancient times, perfectly ignorant of how things actually worked, would use these salves for similar health purposes. Source.
• Their sellers deserve to be imprisoned. Source.

Video on anecdotes, testimonials and alleging a conspiracy:

Concerns have been expressed at Black Salve occasionally being sold on eBay:
[phpbay keywords=”black salve” num=”3″ siteid=”1″ sortorder=”BestMatch” templatename=”columns” columns=”3″ itemsperpage=”3″ paging=”true”]

External Links:
Quackwatch on Black Salve | Wikipedia page on Cansema

Related Topics:
Pseudoscience | Escharotics