North American Cancer Salves

Introduction to cancersalves.com

In this section, you become familiar with the fascinating background of this ancient and often effective treatment.

Why I Started this Site

It is not enough to know that bloodroot might, for instance, possess some sort of anti-cancer properties. One must know when and where to obtain it, what part to use and how to process it, how to combine it with other herbs, and how to use it.

My First Exposure to Cancer Salves

Jane Heimlich assured me that reputable doctors have had excellent results with black and yellow salves. She encouraged me to present the full history of this treatment so that the world would understand them properly.

What are Escharotic Salves?

There are two basic types of cancer salves or pastes, those whose action depends on toxic minerals or acids and those that are herbal.

Escharotic Pastes in the Americas

Early settlers in the New World depended on imports from the Old World; but when supplies were cut off due to war or other factors, they relied on Native Americans for their daily as well as medical needs.

Secrecy Surrounding Cancer Cures

Any treatment that is less mutilating, less painful, and more promising needs to be seriously examined for its relevancy, regardless of whether or not it is ancient or tribal.

Types of Cancer Salves

The two most famous exponents of external treatment of cancer, Frederic Mohs, MD, and Harry Hoxsey, both used bloodroot pastes that contained zinc chloride and antimony. Hildegard of Bingen and John Christopher used purely botanical salves.

Zinc Chloride

Zinc chloride is a highly antiseptic caustic that is somewhat more readily absorbed by malignant tissue than by normal tissue, though it is often reactive with healthy as well as morbid tissue.

Bloodroot: Sanguinarea canadensis

Bloodroot was prized for its root sap, an interesting exudate that remarkably resembles blood. The roots, usually used fresh, are made into washes, poultices, snuffs, dental powders, and escharotic pastes.

Responses to Salve Use

Traditionally, escharotics were used to treat all cancers of the skin as well as tumors that had ulcerated. They were also considered the treatment of choice for breast cancers, even sometimes for very large tumors that occupy nearly the entire breast.

Cure Rate with Cancer Salves

Contemporary estimates of the cure rate for escharotics are heavily biased by the inclusion of basal cell carcinomas where success is 99%. Historically, claims were for 75-80% long-term survival and the predominant type of malignancy treated was breast cancer.

Safety of Cancer Salves

The MD with whom I first discussed the safety of escharotic treatments assured me that escharotic use has never resulted in any deaths and that it involves virtually no risks. While I believe he might have been a bit overconfident, the risks are significantly less than with most other cancer treatments.

Comparisons with Surgery

Though escharotic treatments are most often compared to surgery, a few people see them as embracing some of the characteristics of irradiation and chemotherapy.

Pros and Cons of Salve Use

In the right hands, escharotics constitute an important option for cancer patients. They cause no loss of body parts or function, but the products sold today are aggressive.

Treatment Using the Escharotic Approach

Bloodroot escharotics are aggressive; they destroy cancer and probably some other conditions as well. Goldenseal salves are different. They seem to permit some cells to return to normal.

Supervision and Direction using Salves

It is impossible for me to say that people absolutely require supervision when using the treatment. However, I will say that most people would be better off with the help of knowledgeable health care practitioners.

Goldenseal

Many of the herbs used historically in cancer treatment were Native American in origin. Of these, goldenseal has been so prized that it has often been extremely expensive or insufficiently available.

Photographs of Eschar

There are many stages to the escharotic process, different procedures for each stage, and oftentimes complexities requiring judgment calls, such as what to apply and for how long.

Photographs of Healed Site

This woman had a mass about 3 cm. in diameter. The hole in her breast was at one time an inch and a half deep, perhaps even two inches. There was profuse discharging for several months and then healing such as is seen above.

Why I Started this Site