Abstract
It is estimated that there are 2 million new cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in the USA annually. Current treatment modalities pose significant morbidity, which can consequently lead to unfavorable cosmetic outcomes. This in turn leads to the direct and indirect management costs of treating NMSC approaching billions of dollars annually. There have been anecdotal reports of Euphorbia peplus sap use as a successful home remedy for skin malignancies, which suggest it may be an effective topical treatment for NMSC. Further investigations have isolated one among the many active ingredients found in E. peplus sap, ingenol mebutate (PEP005). Research studies have revealed that ingenol mebutate has both a direct cytotoxic effect and a local moderate acute inflammatory response in mediating its anticancer effects. In addition to its high efficacy in the treatment of NMSC, clinical studies have reported ingenol mebutate to have minor application site side effects that resolved shortly after stopping treatment, little morbidity, favorable cosmetic outcomes and no detectable systemic exposure.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.