"I have read that cannabis oil can get rid of certain types of skin cancers, but I am skeptical to believe the hype. Can it really cure skin cancer? As a doctor would you use it?"
There are no clinical trials to support this assumption.
drfrye
What about Rick Simpson? He had skin cancer and cured it with his oil.
janet
I agree with Dr Frye, there are no clinical trials to confirm that cannabis can be used to treat skin cancer.
The fact is, there are no clinical trials to prove that any natural treatments will cure any disease because pharmaceutical companies have no interest in improving any natural cure works and they get the funding for clinical trials. What we have is antidotal experiences.
I believe we must give patients the allowance to do what they want to do with our wisdom to help guide them in their decisions.
Actinic keratosis is considered a benign skin disease that can progress to skin cancer but it can be treated with topical retinol (Vitamin A) and that will reverse the skin disease.
I always wonder why does a person has skin disease, is it due to a nutritional deficiency, especially vitamin D or vitamin A? A blood level will quickly show if the person is deficient or in the optimum range on those nutrients.
I have had several patients claim they cured skin cancer with cannabis but often those antidotal claims are not documented so we have to question validity.
Do you actually have skin cancer or is this just a curious question?
Patients are often mistaken that they can get enough vitamin D from sunshine to improve their health but I do not believe it’s possible to get enough vitamin D from sunshine without increasing your risk of skin cancer significantly.
I have an office in Hawaii and have tested patient’s vitamin D level there for 12 years and I found one patient with an optimal serum level of 25-OH D, in Hawaii. He wore a speedo so he was practically naked outside all day, he did not wear sunscreen and he did not shower the oil off his skin at the end of the day so he could reabsorb the oil from his skin which of course is where the vitamin D is made.
This is a reminder to wear a natural sunscreen and take your vitamin D3 as a supplement because prevention is the simplest treatment.
drolson
I would agree with both Drs. Olson and Frye. PUtting any type of product on your skin to help a lesion may or may not help. If it is a lesion that you are concerned about however, you should consult a physician and, if needed, have it biopsied and followed. By ignoring it or treating it with something that may or may not work is a good way, if it is any type of skin cancer, for it to either spread to other parts of the body or go deeper into the tissue and therefore need more surgery.
As far as@janets comment, there is a statistic phrase that applies for questions like this "correlation does not mean causation". By this they mean that 2 things happen at the same time does not mean that one caused the other. Rick SImpson could also have worn the same blue color shirt when his cancer "cured". People would then say the color blue "cures" cancer!
Perry Solomon, MD
