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The Eggplant Cancer Cure

A Treatment for Skin Cancer and
New Hope for Other Cancers
From Natures Pharmacy

by Dr. Bill E. Cham, Ph.D.
$24.95 - 132 pages, hardcover

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CHAPTER 3:

Previous Accepted Treatments

ACTINIC KERATOSIS

There is no one best method to treat all skin cancers and precancers. The choice is determined by many factors, including the location, type, size, whether it is a primary tumour or a recurrent one, and also health and preference of the patient. For example, a treatment that has a high cure rate and is painless but leaves a large scar might not be preferred for a tumour on the face.

Almost all treatments are performed in the physician’s office or in special surgical facilities. Most skin cancer removal can be done using a local anaesthetic. Rarely, extensive tumours may require general anaesthesia and hospital admission.

There are many methods for eliminating AKs. All cause a certain amount of reddening, and some may cause scarring, while other approaches are less likely to do so.

Cryosurgery

The most common treatment for AKs, it is especially effective when a limited number of lesions exist. Liquid nitrogen is applied to the growths with a spray device or cotton-tipped applicator to freeze them. They subsequently shrink or become crusted and fall off, without requiring any cutting or anaesthesia. Some temporary redness and swelling may occur after treatment, and in dark-skinned patients, some pigment may be lost.

Curettage and Desiccation

This procedure is for lesions suspected to be early cancers. To test for malignancy, the physician takes a biopsy specimen, either by shaving off the top of the lesion with a scalpel or scraping it off with a curette. Then the curette is used to remove the base of the lesion. Bleeding is stopped with an electrocautery needle, and local anaesthesia is required.

Topical Medications

Medicated creams and solutions are used to remove both visible and invisible AKs when the lesions are numerous. The patient applies the medication according to a schedule. After treatment, some discomfort may result from skin breakdown.

5-fluorouracil (5-FU) cream or solution, in concentrations from 0.5 to 5 percent, is the most widely used topical treatment for AK. It is used on the face, ears, and neck. Some redness, swelling, and crusting may occur.

Another preparation, imiquimod cream, is used for multiple keratoses. It causes cells to produce interferon, a chemical that destroys cancerous and precancerous cells.

An alternative treatment, a gel combining hyaluronic acid and the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac, is also used.

Chemical Peeling

This method makes use of trichloroacetic acid (TCA) or a similar agent applied directly to the skin. The top skin layers slough off, usually replaced within seven days by new epidermis (the skin’s outermost layer). This technique requires local anaesthesia and can cause temporary discolouration and irritation.

Laser Surgery

A carbon dioxide or erbium YAG laser is focused onto the lesion, removing epidermis and different amounts of deeper skin. This finely controlled treatment is an option for lesions in small or narrow areas; it can be effective for keratoses on the face and scalp, as well as actinic cheilitis on the lips. Laser surgery is useful for people with bleeding disorders and is also used as a secondary therapy when other techniques are unsuccessful. However, local anaesthesia is usually necessary, and some scarring and pigment loss can occur.

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)

PDT may be used to treat lesions on the face and scalp. Topical 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is applied to the lesions by the physician. Within the next 24 hours, the medicated areas are exposed to strong light, which activates the 5-ALA. The treatment selectively destroys actinic keratoses, causing little damage to surrounding normal skin, although some swelling and redness often occur.

NON MELANOMA SKIN CANCERS

Treatment depends on the:

• type of skin cancer,
• its stage and location and the,
• individual's age and overall health.

People with small basal cell carcinomas, for instance, may need only simple treatment. That's because basal cell cancers rarely spread to other parts of the body and seldom are fatal. Squamous cell carcinomas have a greater tendency to spread, and may require more treatment.

Skin cancers are usually treated by a dermatologist, a doctor who specializes in skin diseases. Treatment often can be done in the doctor's office. Most require a local anaesthetic.

Some tiny skin cancers are completely removed during the biopsy. No more treatment is needed. However, most require additional treatment to eliminate all of the cancer cells.

Three kinds of treatment are used for most skin cancers. They are:

• Surgery: Taking out or destroying the cancer.
• Chemotherapy: Giving drugs to kill the cancer cells.
• Radiation therapy: Using powerful energy from x-rays or other sources to destroy the cancer cells.

In addition to these, there are other treatment options.

Surgery

Surgery is the most common treatment. Any of several surgical methods may be used:

• Simple excision involves cutting out the tumour with a margin of surrounding normal skin to be sure it is completely removed.
• Cryosurgery (cryo = "cold") freezes and kills the cancer cells. It uses liquid nitrogen, which has a temperature of 196 degrees below zero Celcius. The extreme cold instantly kills the tumour, which falls off like a scab after the area thaws. Cryosurgery itself is painless.
  However, the treated area may become swollen and painful after it thaws. Cryosurgery is used mainly for small or superficial skin cancers, and to remove precancerous growths.
• Curettage and electrodessication combines two methods. In one, the doctor uses a curette, a sharp, spoon-shaped instrument, to scoop out the tumour. The area is then treated with electrodessication, applying electrical current produced by a special machine. It
  controls bleeding, and dehydrates and kills cancer cells remaining near the edge of tumour area.
• Micrographic surgery (or Mohs surgery) attempts to remove all of the tumour and as little surrounding normal tissue as possible. One layer of tumour is removed and examined with a microscope. If cancer cells are present another layer is removed and examined. The process continues until all cancer cells have been removed.
• Laser surgery uses the highly focused beam of light from a laser to destroy cancer cells. It is seldom used for cancers that have not grown beyond the outer layer of the skin.
• Skin cancer surgery will leave a visible scar. Its size usually depends on the size of the cancer and the amount of tissue removed during surgery.
• Cryosurgery for a small tumour usually leaves a faint, white scar.
• Treatment of large cancers may require a skin graft to close the defect. Grafting involves removing skin from another part of the body and moving it to the area where the cancer was removed.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy means treatment with anti-cancer drugs. The treatment for skin cancer often uses anti-cancer drugs in a lotion or cream applied to the skin. This localized, or topical, chemotherapy is for superficial tumours that have not advanced beyond the top layer of the skin.

Systemic chemotherapy also may be given in a pill, injected into a muscle, or intravenously through a needle in a vein. This body-wide, or systemic, chemotherapy can kill cancer cells that have spread outside the skin. It may cause nausea and other side effects in some individuals. Side effects are common. This treatment is generally used for metastatic cancer.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy, or radiotherapy, uses a special kind of energy carried by invisible rays or particles to kill cancer cells, or keep them from growing. X-rays are the kind of radiation often used to kill skin cancer. The amounts are much higher than those used in an ordinary mammogram or chest x-ray. This therapy often is used for cancers that occur in areas difficult to treat with surgery, especially in the very elderly, who may be unable to safely undergo surgery. These include cancers on the ears, eyelids, and tip of the nose.

Radiation therapy may cause:

• Rash, redness, or dryness in the area.
• Other changes in skin texture or colour may develop after radiation therapy. They may become more noticeable years later.
  

Other Treatments

Several other treatments may be used for skin cancer, including:

• Photodynamic therapy uses drugs that collect inside a tumour. A special light is then focused on the tumour. The light triggers a chemical reaction in the drug that destroys tumour cells, but does not harm surrounding normal tissue.
• Biological therapy tries to use the body's own natural defenses to attack and destroy cancer cells. Cells are grown in a laboratory and exposed to substances that boost their disease-fighting ability. The activated cells then are injected back into the body to attack the
  tumour. Biological therapy is used mainly for advanced forms of cancer that cannot be treated with other methods. It is available in clinical trials, studies conducted in medical centres to determine its safety and effectiveness.

Skin Cancer Prevention

The most important preventive measure is to avoid excessive exposure to the sun. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation in sunlight damages the genetic material DNA in skin cell genes. This increases the risk that a normal cell will start growing abnormally and become cancerous. UV rays also damage the structure of the skin in ways that cause premature skin ageing and wrinkling.

Prevention must begin in childhood. That's because most people get about 50% of their lifetime sun exposure before age 18 1-4.