Melanoma and Skin cancer
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer. The main types of skin cancer are squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Melanoma is much less common than the other types but much more likely to invade nearby tissue and spread to other parts of the body.
General Information About Melanoma
- Melanoma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in melanocytes (cells that color the skin).
- There are different types of cancer that start in the skin.
- Melanoma can occur anywhere on the skin.
- Unusual moles, exposure to sunlight, and health history can affect the risk of melanoma.
- Signs of melanoma include a change in the way a mole or pigmented area looks.
- Tests that examine the skin are used to diagnose melanoma.
- Certain factors affect prognosis (chance of recovery) and treatment options.
Read the full article on the National Cancer Institute website.
General Information About Skin Cancer
KEY POINTS
- Skin cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the skin.
- Different types of cancer start in the skin.
- Skin color and being exposed to sunlight can increase the risk of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.
- Basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, and actinic keratosis often appear as a change in the skin.
- Tests or procedures that examine the skin are used to diagnose basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.
- Certain factors affect prognosis (chance of recovery) and treatment options.
Read the full article on the National Cancer Institute website.
Non-standard treatment options
Mole Screening Clinics
If you’re concerned that a mole or skin lesion could be cancerous, you can have it checked out by a dermatologist or other professional trained in early skin cancer detection.
This could save you unnecessary surgery and is painless, fast and very reasonably priced.
In Ireland you can get checked at the following clinics (there are others):
Skincheck Ireland
Tel: 01- 2939148
http://skincheck.ie/
MoleScan Clinic
Tel: 01 685 6569
http://molescan.ie
Outside Ireland:
Check for similar services in your own area.
Other Treatments
Mohs Micrographic Surgery
A procedure used to treat certain types of skin cancer, penile cancer, and soft tissue sarcoma of the skin. During Mohs surgery, one layer of tissue at the site of a visible cancer is removed at a time and checked under a microscope for the presence of cancer. This process is repeated until all cancerous tissue has been removed. This type of surgery removes as little normal tissue as possible. It is often used to remove skin cancer on the face, fingers, or genitals, including cancer on or just under the skin of the penis. It may also be used to remove some sarcomas of the skin. Also called Mohs micrographic surgery.
Mohs surgery. A surgical procedure to remove a visible lesion on the skin in several steps. First, a thin layer of cancerous tissue is removed. Then, a second thin layer of tissue is removed and viewed under a microscope to check for cancer cells. More layers are removed one at a time until the tissue viewed under a microscope shows no remaining cancer. This type of surgery is used to remove as little normal tissue as possible.
Source: National Cancer Institute
Here is a 2019 meta-analysis of 58 studies with 21,000 patients.
The objective of this study was to compare the cosmesis and recurrence rates of conventional excision (CE), Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS), external-beam radiation therapy (EBRT), or brachytherapy (BT), for basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.
It concluded Among patients with T1-T2N0 skin cancers, brachytherapy and Mohs micrographic surgery have improved cosmesis over external-beam radiation therapy and conventional excision. However, the difference is only significant in terms of “good” cosmesis between BT and EBRT. Local control is similar among all modalities at 1 year.
This 2022 study of 71 studies (16,575 patients) concluded:
Local recurrence of melanoma is significantly lower after Mohs Micrographic Surgery (<1%) and staged excision (3%) compared with wide local excision (7%).
This Systematic Review 118 publications says:
Surgery with a predefined excision margin is the treatment of choice for most cutaneous SCCs, with Mohs micrographic surgery being recommended for SCCs considered to be higher risk or in cosmetically sensitive areas. Our pooled analysis suggests lower rates of local recurrence and deaths attributable to disease after Mohs micrographic surgery, despite the fact that tumours treated by this method are likely to be at higher risk—although there have been no randomised controlled trials to directly compare the two treatments.
BEC5 (Eggplant Extract) for Skin Cancer
The cancer-fighting health benefits of eggplant extract is a phytochemical called solasodine glycoside, or BEC5 and it is especially potent against skin cancer. Curaderm (BEC5 cream) was developed and tested by Dr. Cham and it can be found online without a prescription.
See BEC-5 page for more information
Oncolytic Virotherapy
This Study concluded:
Rigvir significantly prolongs survival in early-stage melanoma patients without any side effect.
This 2015 study says:
Taken together, the results suggest that a significant number of melanoma patients would benefit from prolonging the survival with Rigvir treatment. There sults also show that this can be achieved without side effects. Results suggest that Rigvir could also be tested inthe treatment of other types of cancer. Conclusion Rigvir is an oncolytic, non pathogenic ECHO-7 virus that significantly prolongs survival in early-stage melanoma patients without any side effect.
This 2020 case study concluded:
The present patient was diagnosed over 9.4 years ago. After several recurrences and progression episodes, stabilization of the disease has been observed since June 2015, for over 70 months during virotherapy treatment. The present case suggests that ECHO-7 virotherapy is an effective treatment for cutaneous melanoma.
Adrenal gland melanoma
This 2020 case study concluded:
Considering the rarity of adrenal gland melanoma, there is no standard treatment. The present patient experienced a disease progression after 2 months of interferon alfa-2a therapy and that treatment was discontinued. Subsequently, the patient started oncolytic virotherapy with Rigvir. Since then, disease progression has slowed down and the patient has been stable for 5 years. No adverse events have been reported by the patient.
Blueberries
This study says Blueberries inhibit the proliferation of melanoma cells.
Quercetin
This study says:In conclusion, quercetin and apigenin potently inhibit melanoma growth and invasive and metastatic potential; therefore, they may constitute a valuable tool in the combination therapy of metastatic melanoma and in the prevention of melanoma metastases. These potential applications are supported by a study performed on healthy volunteers (Gugler et al., 1975) and by a phase I clinical trial (Ferry et al., 1996), which has shown that quercetin has low toxicity in humans.
Vitamin C and Doxycycline
This study found that antibiotics, such as Doxycycline, could eradicate Cancer Stem Cells in multiple cancer types. These include: DCIS, breast (ER(+) and ER(-)), ovarian, prostate, lung, and pancreatic carcinomas, as well as melanoma and glioblastoma. The study authors propose the combined use of Doxycycline and Vitamin C as a new strategy for eradicating CSCs.
Vitamin D
This study says Vitamin D and its analogs have inhibitory effects on cancer stem cell signaling in various types of human cancer cells and may be promising therapeutic/preventive agents against Cancer Stem Cells.
This study says: Several lines of evidence have demonstrated that vitamin D plays an important role in the regulation of stem cells of the prostate and the skin.
Sunlight spurs the body to make vitamin D.
Food sources:
Fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel. Small amounts of vitamin D are found in beef liver, cheese, and egg yolks.
Treating Basal Cell Carcinoma with Aldara
Aldara
Generic name(s) IMIQUIMOD
Uses
This medication is used to treat certain types of growths on the skin. These are precancerous growths (actinic keratoses), a certain type of skin cancer (superficial basal cell carcinoma), and warts on the outside of the genitals/anus. Treating these conditions can decrease complications from them. Imiquimod belongs to a group of drugs called immune response modifiers. It is believed to work by helping to activate your immune system to fight these abnormal skin growths.
Warning:
Aldara: The Skin Cancer “Cure” That Can Kill
by Elaine Hollingsworth
It takes a courageous person, or publication, to reveal the skullduggery of Big Pharma. Occasionally, however, the truth cannot be suppressed, and when The Wall Street Journal revealed that Merck, the maker of Vioxx, had been burying the serious health risks of their COX-2 inhibitor anti-inflammatory drug as far back as March, 2000, a scandal erupted. As Dr. Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, wrote, “The licensing of Vioxx and its continued use in the face of unambiguous evidence of harm have been public health catastrophes.”
A health catastrophe even more devastating than Vioxx is Aldara or, more specifically, the chemical imiquimod (IQ). IQ is the only active agent in the popular drug known as Aldara, which is marketed worldwide and promoted very heavily by 3M Pharmaceuticals as a “benign” salve to cure skin cancers. IQ has been known since 1986 to cause cancer. It is so dangerous that the American Cancer Society, The National Cancer Institute, and others have determined it is a carcinogen, and have placed it on their lists of most hazardous chemicals. IQ has even been listed as a laboratory chemical hazard by the US Occupational Safety Health Agency. Yet, doctors worldwide are prescribing it in Aldara, willy-nilly, to “cure” skin cancers, even though there are safe, vegetable-based creams and other proven remedies, including surgery. I foolishly used Aldara, and it didn’t kill my skin cancer, but it nearly killed me, leaving me with a damaged immune system. Read full article at: Townsend Letter
Prescription skin cancer cream Aldara has horrific side effects, say users
by: Dani Veracity
Elaine Hollingsworth put Aldara on her nose thinking that it was the “benign salve” that her dermatologist made it out to be; instead, it was the beginning of her nightmare. After using the pharmaceutical skin cancer treatment for only two weeks, a “disgusting, thick, crusty, black scab” covered her entire nose, not just the one-quarter-inch on which she applied the cream — and this wasn’t even the worst side effect.
Around the same time her nose became covered with the scab, Hollingsworth awoke early one morning with a case of anaphylactic shock.
Continue reading at Natural News
Itraconazole
Itraconazole, may be useful in treating basal cell carcinoma — the most common form of skin cancer, according to a study that was published online Feb. 3 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The study tested itraconazole’s effectiveness in treating patients with multiple basal cell carcinoma tumors. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine carried out a phase-2 clinical trial with 29 patients who had a total of 101 tumors. Within a month, the size and spread of tumors had decreased in most patients, they found.
Source: Stanford Medicine News Center
Black salve
Black salve is a compound derived from various inert ingredients, but it can be transformed into a corrosive ointment by the addition of bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) or zinc chloride. Some alternative practitioners have extremely strong views on its efficacy.
There are serious warnings about how and where you should use it.
This 2017 study says:
Black salve is not a natural therapy. It contains significant concentrations of synthetic chemicals. Black salve does not appear to possess tumour specificity with in vitro and in vivo evidence indicating normal cell toxicity. Black salve does appear to cure some skin cancers, although the cure rate for this therapy is currently unknown. The use of black salve should be restricted to clinical research in low risk malignancies located at low risk sites until a better understanding of its efficacy and toxicity is developed.
See Black Salve page for more details and testimonials
Page updated 2024