So what exactly is “Black Salve”? When used in the context of natural herbal cures and abnormally replicating skin cells, often in the form of moles and skin tags, black salve is a combination of herbs that have a synergistic action when combined together with zinc chloride and often DMSO. The original formula “Black Salves” that have thousands of users that will testify as to how the salve reacted on certain skin conditions are typically made from a special combination of Bloodroot also known as Sanguinaria canadensis, Zinc chloride, Chaparral, Burdock root, Yellowdock, Graviola root, and are mixed in a base of oils or water.

I have studied conventional and traditional medicine for years and have combined the original recipe ingredients with other herbs and specific healing oils that recent scientific evidence has shown to have anti tumor properties and anti cancer properties. However, do to regulations by the FDA, no seller or manufacturer of any black salve can make claims that the salves can diagnose, treat or cure any type of disease. The information I am providing here is strictly for you to do your own research on. There are many scientific studies on the individual herbs and oils that I use in my products and the information presented here is just a summary of the science on the ingredients. No black salve is FDA approved. If you are seeking FDA approved treatments or drugs then you need to seek the advice of a licensed Medical Doctor. I am licensed as by the Pastoral Medical Association http://www.pmai.us/about2013 this is not the same as a licensed medical doctor. I am also a traditional naturopath and holistic healthcare practitioner. I have several Naturopathic Medical Doctors and other traditional healers that use my products. The purpose of the Pastoral Medical Association is:

“Our real purpose is to help people get back to health the way God intended”
We are one big family working together to put
the Almighty’s messages for good health first!

I use a special method of preparing the herbal blend with these oils in a temperature controlled environment to ensure that the entire formula is synergistically blended and safe for use when used according to the directions. My specific formulas contain the ingredients: Bloodroot, Chaparral, zinc Chloride, burdock root, yellowdock root, graviola root, goldenseal, Echinacea, thyme, turmeric, myrrh resin, CPTG myrrh essential oil, grapeseed oil, castor oil, neem oil, hemp seed oil, apricot oil, DMSO, CPTG thyme essential oil and CPTG frankincense oil.

I have very carefully studied the properties of each of the herbs and oils used in my formulas. Space will limit providing all of the research here, however references will be placed at the end of this article. The most important ingredient is of course the bloodroot or Sanguinarine canadendid root. The attributes this plant possesses are remarkable, many researchers and doctors have investigated these benefits. Below is an analysis of the chemical compounds of bloodroot:13-methyl[1,3]benzodioxolo[5,6-c]-1,3-dioxolo[4,5-i]phenanthridinium; the sap of the plant is bright red and is especially abundant with the alkaloid sanguinarine which is derived from rhizome (root system ), a benzophenanthridine alkaloid and a structural homologue of chelerythrine. Sanguinarine is known for its anti-cancer/anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial(Sanguinarine broad in vitro activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, and some protozoa), anti-oxidant, and expectorant properties.

Skin cancers are a result of uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells, in other words the normal cell death or apoptosis does not occur. The effect of sanguinarine and its antiproliferative and apoptosis nature was investigated it was discovered that sanguinarine stops cancerous cell rapid growth, stops the promotion of human epidermoid carcinoma cells, sanguinarine promotes natural apoptosis of cancereous cells and will not promote cell death of healthy tissue.

Sanguinarine has been used for hundreds of years. The extract is used in many over the counter products including toothpaste because of its anti-inflammatory properties and their effects on ginvival inflammation.

Sanguinaria Kills Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Sanguinarine treatment was found to result in a dose-dependent decrease in the viability of squamous cell carcinoma. Normally cancerous cells are unable to experience apoptosis by natural means. Sanguinarine (13-methyl[1,3]benzodioxolo[5,6-c]-1,3-dioxolo[4,5-i]phenanthridinium) at 1-, 2-, and 5-µM doses was able to kill the cancerous tissue. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) ladder assay demonstrated that, compared to vehicle-treated control, sanguinarine treatment of squamous cell carcinoma resulted in an induction of programmed cell death as signaled by the nuclei in functioning cells. This process is characterized by cleavage of the DNA into fragments that give a so called laddering pattern then the solid phase of the cell liquefies.

Sanguinaria Will Not Promote Necrosis To Healthy Skin Tissue
Sanguinarine treatment did not result in the formation of a DNA ladder or necrosis in normal human skin tissue. Necrosis did not occur even at the very high dose of 2 , 5, and 10 µM of sanguinarine. The results were viewed and verified with confocal microscopy.

The DNA cell cycle analysis showed that sanguinarine treatment did not significantly affect the distribution of cells among the different phases of the cell cycle in squamous cell carcinoma. (This is especially important because this proves definitely that sanguinarine will not affect the DNA of cells.) The researchers’ work proves that sanguinarine is an effective natural anticancer chemical, and under normal circumstance sanguinarine will not promote damage to healthy tissue.

The Mechanism
Studies have shown that sanguinarine is a inhibitor of the activation of nuclear transcription factor NF-B, which has been implicated to play a key role in the regulation of cell growth, cell cycle regulation, and apoptosis. The anti-tumor properties of this alkaloid are constantly being reestablished.

Frankincense and Myrrh

Chen et al. (2013) reported on studies in which breast cancer cells MCF-7 cells “showed that the myrrh, frankincense and the mixture of essential oils were capable of inducing apoptosis in the MCF‑7 cells in a concentration‑dependent manner (Fig. 2). A dose‑dependent induction of the apoptotic cells was performed to investigate the apoptosis rate. The early‑and late‑stage apoptosis rates of the MCF‑7 cells induced by 40 μg/ml myrrh, frankincense” (p. 1140) Chen et al. (2013) continued to relate the results of their study, The results indicated that the MCF‑7 and HS‑1 cell lines showed increased sensitivity to the myrrh and frankincense essential oils compared with the remaining cell lines. In addition, the anticancer effects of myrrh were markedly increased…”.

In another study frankincense oil was examine in relation to its effect on human bladder cancer J82 cells and the frankincense essential oil suppressed the cell viability of the transitional carcinoma J82 cells. The study results led the researchers to the conclusion that frankincense oil does “activate genes that are responsible for cell cycle arrest, cell growth suppression and, apoptosis in J82 cells” (Frank et al. 2009, p. 9)furthermore, the J82 cell death induced by the frankincense did not cause DNA fragmentation which is normally expressed in apoptosis Frank et al. (2009). The authors concluded that the frankincense oil appeared to be capable of distinguishing cancerous bladder cells from normal bladder cells while suppressing cancer cell viability Frank et al. (2009). Studies such as this have led to my decision to include frankincense in my FrankinThyme bloodroot black salve.

I will update this from time to time with science on the other ingredients so this list is not exhaustive by any means.

References:

Chen, Y., Zhou, C., Ge, Z., Liu, Y., Yuming, L., Weiyi, F., Sen, L., Guoyou, C. and Taiming, W. (2013). Composition and potential anticancer activities of essential oils obtained from myrrh and frankincense. ONCOLOGY LETTERS 6: 1140-1146, 2013 DOI: 10.3892/ol.2013.1520

Frank, M., Yang, Q., Osban, J., Azzarello, J., Sabans, M., Sabans, R., Ashley, R., Welter, J., Kar-Ming, F., and Hsueh-Kung, L., (2009). Frankincense oil derived from Boswellia carteri induces tumor cell specific cytotoxicity. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 9(6) doi:10, 1186/1472-6882—6.: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/9/6

Hussain, A., Al-Jomah, N., Siraj, A., Manogaran, P., Al-Hussein, K., Abubaker, J. Platanias, L., Al-Kurya, K. and Uddin, S. (2007). Experimental therapeutics, molecular targets, and chemical biology Sanguinarine-dependent induction of apoptosis in primary effusion lymphoma cells. Cancer Research 67, doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-06-3764

Vogt, A., Tamewitz, A., Skoko, J., Sikorski, R., Giuliano, K., Lazo, J. (2005). The bensocphenathridine alkaloid, sanguinarine, is a selective, cell-active inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1. Journal of Biological Chemistry 280(19) doi:10.1074./jbcM501467200