Melanoma - Oncept - July 2023 - Update post 216

In spite of the fact that the pics are taken from slightly different angles and the ones from yesterday aren’t quite as close up (my husband didn’t have the right lens with him) I do think I see progress. My ophthalmologist calls them “encouraging”. My son, ever the critic! :lol:, thinks so too.

I just wanted to put them out here so the trail of evidence can begin!

We go back to OSU this coming Friday. I hope to have pictures that are more easily compared.

More jingles and finger crossing much appreciated!

Injection #3 today…remaining masses on his jugular are all but gone. One left that you can feel, but you really have to dig for it. Small mass under his tail is smaller. Area of edema in his eye has gotten smaller even since last week’s photos.

And it was 45 degrees! 55 degrees warmer than the last time we went! :lol:

Hope to have pictures soon…

I’d like to hug the person who developed this stuff!

Take a look…I think it’s just amazing! Most recent photos are last two…

http://s128.photobucket.com/user/bicyclewoman/library/Oncept%20results

Went to OSU for the last injection of the first series today. Everything still looking good - tumor in his eye is smaller, nothing else much to report since everything else has essentially disappeared. Today was also my horse’s last day on cimetidine - nice to be able to drop a med and all the associated costs.

The next injection is in three months. Crossing my fingers that things continue to stay stable at least or even get better. I would be really happy at this point if he didn’t get any new tumors and the existing one stays the same. Not just really happy - elated!

:slight_smile:

Thank you so much for keeping us updated. Really good news, and I hope your boy maintains all of his progress. Please keep us informed.

OP, that is GREAT news. Thanks for letting us know.

Keep us informed, we are all learning from this.

Thank you for all the good wishes! This is one of the most interesting things I’ve ever done with a horse so I’m glad others are finding it so as well!

Now it’s back to kind of normal life - spring is here, time to start riding, and taking a few lessons here and there. Nice to be able to think about the future without having to constantly worry about his eye and whatever might have been going on inside.

I should have new pictures from OSU soon and will share.

:smiley:

OP, my vet did call the vet at OSU, and your horse seems to be the ONLY one they have done, so no luck on info I wanted on success with a horse with multitudes of small melanomas. The $500 dollar figure per injection was also quoted, so a bit discouraged at paying that much with no other success with similar melanomas.

My vet did say the vet version of the COTH forum has an Oncept thread just started with vets asking about experience with it. Wonder if people reading this discussion are asking their vets and set that off?

My vet is still going to check with CSU, but they are not too responsive. We do have a small animal oncology clinic up the road, but reportedly they are mucho $$$$ for dog treatment, so not going that way right now. Bottom line to me is the equine melanoma business seems too small to interest Merial at present.

Plumcreek, sent you a PM. I left out a very important word in the last sentence of the first paragraph. It should read:

Here’s my reasoning for going ahead in spite of NOT having much hard evidence for my situation:

Kind of an important for understanding the rest of the message!!!

Happy Rainy Thursday!

We are definitely in “no news is good news” mode. Mr Ay-rab’s eye is still improving - the edema is slowly going away. All of the rest of him is just great - he’s gained weight and looks really good. The combination of moving him to a barn where he got fed, getting his stomach issues from travel settled down, and maybe the resolution of internal melanomas is all in play here. His appetite is back big time and it’s easy to see that he just feels a lot better.

I can’t believe how much anxiety I was carrying around about him - between the melanoma situation and the bad boarding barn - so glad to have that all behind us. Spring helps too.

Will keep you posted - he goes back to OSU in June as well as has his first ophthalmologist’s visit since his Oncept. Very interested in see what she’ll have to say.

:slight_smile:

Glad to hear the good news, congrats to you and your boy

great news!

Yay for the Ay-rab (and you for)! Thanks for keeping us posted!

So happy for you, and please keep us posted. I am on hold for now with this, due to the quoted $500 per shot cost and lack of any info on horses with the small hard skin melanomas being treated anywhere.

A beautiful day to drive to Columbus - warm and clear and nice! Best news was that 3 months after his last injection, the melanomas continue to shrink. His eye looks really good, masses under his tail are smaller tho they were small to begin with, and the internal masses on his neck are stable if not a bit smaller.

He got another injection, hopped back on the trailer, and headed home to his pasture.

Just really, really, really good news! And did I mention I am saving beaucoup bucks by not giving him cimetidine or Zylexis??? All worth it!

:D:):winkgrin:

Great news!

Injection #6 today. Most of the masses remaining are completely stable and have not changed a bit. That is, of course, very good news.

His eye, however, is still changing - he had something weird going on with it early in August. I took him up there then for them to take a look. They observed some irritation and vein-y kind of changes in the edema, but no ulcers or other kind of dangerous things going on. Banamine seemed to relieve whatever discomfort he was having, so we gave him that and crossed our fingers.

Today all of that was resolved and the attendings all kind of gasped when they looked at his eye - the mass is much smaller. They estimate that his mass is 85% smaller than it was in January. All we can figure is that in August his body was trying to get rid of whatever was being broken down in the mass. I realize this sounds like a bunch of head scratching, but when you’re working with Patient #1, you haven’t got a lot of experience to go on. It’s all a big science experiment…I’m just glad it’s working!!!

In any case, it was a great visit!

My gut feeling about this stuff, once again - start it early. Don’t go through all the other options - it just seems like it works the best on growing masses. Completely unscientific, but that’s what my intuition tells me.

Onward!!!

Wonderful News!!! And thanks for sharing your journey.

Yes, thanks so much for sharing your story. Very encouraging! Hugs to you and your Ay-rab.

Thanks and congrats on the good news . I will continue to follow your horse, so please continue the updates.

Which masses still remain and are stable ? I thought your horse mostly had melanomas around the jugular, and those had shrunk significantly. Does he have any traditional black skin melanomas around sheath or anus or lips?
Thanks.