Recently, a patient asked me about using Terrasil for wart removal. Thuja Occidentalis Ointment, also known as Terrasil Wart Removal, is a homeopathic remedy for warts.  Natural ingredients include: organic beeswax, cedarwood oil, and jojoba.

Because Terrasil is a homeopathic remedy and not a drug, the FDA does not regulate non-drug substances for accuracy of the company’s claim of effectiveness. Thus, there is no scientific evidence yet to support the claim that homeopathy is an effective method of treatment. It may work, but the company doesn’t need to prove it.

But this patient’s question jogged my memory about an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2004. The article describes a clinical trial of human alpha-lactalbumin coupled to oleic acid that was highly effective for treating human warts. The substance, known as HAMLET, is purified from human breast milk and applied topically.

In an accompanying editorial, commenters expand the possibilities for HAMLET treating malignant tissue such as HPV induced cervical cancer and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (which may have HPV as a cofactor with ultraviolet light). HAMLET is used to treat cells causing apotosis (cellular death) and appears to be a leave normal cells alone. Thus, the side effects on normal tissue would be minimal.

Medications like HAMLET are no doubt in the pipeline. Additionally, I think it’s curious that breast milk may provide answers to some of our most pressing medical problems. There may be room for more research there.

REFERENCES:

Bavinck JNB, Feltkamp MC. Milk of Human Kindness? — HAMLET, Human Papillomavirus, and Warts. New England Journal of Medicine N Engl J Med. 2004;350(26):2639-2642. doi:10.1056/nejmp048086.

Label: TERRASIL WART REMOVAL- thuja occidentalis ointment. DailyMed. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/druginfo.cfm?id=119689. Published February 28, 2014. Accessed August 1, 2016.