Yeah, I've got a bunch of 'em. Scary mean trees.
So far I haven't found any chemical treatment that keeps them in check. Cutting them down is an event. We first clear any surrounding brush and clean up any dropped branches/thorns, mow the surrounding area short, then work our way in towards the trunk. Shave off all thorns from the ground up as high as we can reach. Make sure your escape route is perfectly clear - you DON'T want to trip and fall when the tree starts to come down. Cut it and run - fast and far - and pray that the sumbitch doesn't get hung up in an adjoining tree. Which they usually do, since it seems that a single 1/4" branch can reach out and snag anything within 50 feet and miraculously support the whole tree, against all laws of physics and gravity, to keep it from completing its fall. If this happens, just fence off the entire area and put the property on the market.
If successful, we use a machete to strip thorns, and cut it into firewood (makes great firewood). All small branches are hauled to a brush pile and immediately burned. Then, keep the stump trimmed back. If you don't stay on top of it, you will go back inside for a drink of water, only to return and find that it has resprouted into a vengeful, multi-trunked demon bush 20' in diameter, intent on rending the flesh from the insolent being that offended it in such a manner.
Once it's completely gone, chopped up and burned to oblivion, there will still be one more thorn. This one is completely invisible, and between 5" and 6" long. It lies in hiding until your mother-in-law, baby niece, or the person on site to inspect the property before making you an offer on the land comes by, at which point it viciously attacks, impaling sole, foot, and upper of the shoe, depositing it's poisonous payload in retribution for you having had the audacity to attempt to end its vile and wicked life.
Good Luck.