Radiation therapy involves placing radioactive material in or around the sarcoid.

This gives by far the best results but is very expensive and only available in two or three centres worldwide.

It is usually reserved for difficult lesions such as around the eye or over joints, and where owners can afford to invest the considerable sums involved.

Radiation therapy is offered in Germany and France but is not currently available in the UK.

 

Surgical removal is appropriate for some sarcoids but not for others. In some cases it can make the sarcoid more aggressive and recurrence can occur even many years later. It can carry a high failure rate due to recurrence. We can advise your vet if surgery should be performed.

Smart Surgery can give a very good cosmetic effect but is only suitable in certain locations. This surgery involves a one cut one blade principle to avoid the risk of contaminating the  surgery site with tumour cells. Each instrument is replaced after contact with the site. This may add to the cost of the procedure but is money well spent. We provide a leaflet for vets who want to learn how to apply smart surgery principles.

The best prognosis is acheived by selecting amenable lesions (small, well defined and at convenient sites). Generally surgery should be avoided for nodular eye lesions but can be useful in nodular sarcoids in the groin and thigh areas that do not have skin involvement.

If surgery is performed your vet should send away the mass to ensure that there is enough of a margin of normal tissue to minimise the risk of recurrence.

Laser surgery is often used as it reduces the risk of contaminating the side of the wound with tumour cells. It is therefore thought to be better than traditional surgery. However for most sarcoids it will not be possible to close the wound and so healing may be prolonged.

The location and extent of the Sarcoid will determine if the procedure can be done standing (under sedation) or requires a full anaesthetic. The latter can add significantly to the cost.

Surgery is thought to be better if the wound is not sutured afterwards. The open site could however be at risk of re-introduction of sarcoid or infection and will be slow to heal which can be problematic at some sites.

Surgical removal often needs to be combined with other forms of treatment that will reduce the risk of future recurrence.

Cryosurgery refers to the use of freezing to remove a sarcoid. It is only effective for small surface lesions. It is quite time consuming as each lesion must be frozen and thawed at least 3 times. The freezing can cause damage to surrounding tissues and extensive scarring.  There is a high rate of recurrence with this technique.

Sometimes cryosurgery is combined with traditional surgery to remove the bulk of the lesion. This seems to result in a minor improvement in prognosis.

Heat cautery can also be used in combination with traditional surgery. It is thought to kill off seeding cells that end up back in the wound site during surgery and may improve prognosis slightly.

 

Ligation or banding the sarcoid can be very tempting when there is a pedicle or stem to the sarcoid. However before this is attempted your vet MUST check if the sarcoid has a root that  extends into the deeper tissues. Ligation can be extremely dangerous if there is a root structure and should only be performed by a veterinary surgeon.

Ligation is most suited to Type A1 and B1 nodular sarcoids and some small pedunculated fibroblastic sarcoids.

The sarcoid will die slowly over a few weeks and will then fall off leaving an open wound. The wound can be much larger than expected as the skin draws back from the site.

Ligation is much more successful when combined with topical treatments that will kill the root as well as the superficial mass.

NEVER attempt ligation yourself as it can make matters much worse

 

Topical Treatment

 

Topical treatments are creams and ointments that are applied to the surface of the lesion.

There are many topical treatments available most of which require a prescription from your veterinary surgeon.

The evidence for their use varies and it is important to seek expert advice on which is the best for your horse’s lesions. These creams work in different ways and each type of sarcoid needs a different approach.

Do not be tempted to use an internet remedy as these can often make the situation far worse!

 

Photodynamic therapy involves applying or injecting a chemical that the tumour cells will absorb. The chemical will then react to certain types of light and cause damage and death of the tumour cells. The chemicals used will also react to sunlight which can create side effects similar to severe sunburn in normal skin when the horse is in sunlight.

Injections into the tumour are sometimes used these may involve a type of vaccine or specially prepared chemotherapy drugs. Sedation is often required to ensure the injection is safe.