Melanoma - Oncept - July 2023 - Update post 216

[twelvegates]

[QUOTE=First Dance;8687284]
Hello Everyone,

So I have been following this post for the past year and finally made the decision to try the vaccine with my grey. She has numerous melanomas throughout her body and at this point the vaccine is probably my only hope to try to manage them. I’ve tried the cimetidine route since I bought her 2 years ago. I can’t say one way or the other if that has helped or not. (Yes I bought her with melanomas, to me it was worth the chance). Anyway, she went for her first Oncept vaccine today…so fingers, toes, etc. crossed. I’ll try to keep up on posts. When I was researching I couldn’t get enough info and really wanted to hear about personal experiences. I really appreciate the fact that oldernewbie has kept us all updated. It really is so helpful!!!:)[/QUOTE]

Appreciate this to the extreme. I’ve been on the fence about my mare, who developed them early. I’ve kept the cutaneous ones in check, but worry that internal tumors are forming.

[oldernewbie]

[QUOTE=WildandWickedWarmbloods;8687299]
Great results, OP.

I’ve had 2 friends with grey horses with melanomas. One horse died at age 29 with no treatment whatsoever. The other horse was put down at age 24 for ringbone. Both had really bad melanomas but their owners ignored them for some reasons I cannot fathom.[/QUOTE]

They may have not been ignoring them - there just haven’t been any useful options until recently

[oldernewbie]

Aw shucks guys… My boy will never be much more than an all around good time, but I guess his real calling was to show that Oncept could work for average horses and owners. I’m so glad this thread has been so helpful.

He’s doing great, btw. I had my knee replaced last week so he’s spending the summer as a pasture puff. Everything still small and stable!

First Dance, we’re crossing all our fingers and hooves that you see positive results soon!

[First_Dance]

Thank you! Very much appreciated.

[First_Dance]

[QUOTE=Zu Zu;8687298]
Jingles & AO for your mare ~ ((hugs)) for you during this worrisome time ~[/QUOTE]

Thank you so very much.

[findeight]

[QUOTE=oldernewbie;8687901]
They may have not been ignoring them - there just haven’t been any useful options until recently [/QUOTE]

Ditto that. I have an oldster with them. Bought at age 11 with them under the tail but they never developed into a problem. There was nothing to do for them at that time. Got one by an ear at age 22 after retiring with an unrelated injury. Now 5 years later, still there, has gotten bigger but at age 27, doesn’t seem to bother it. Not ooen or weeping, just a big bump.

Might have sought it out even 5 years ago but it is quite expensive and, call me a bad horse mom, can’t justify the expense at this point in both horse’s life or my own with an otherwise healthy and comfortable 27 year old.

Different choices in different circumstances.

[First_Dance]

Looks like we are headed in the right direction! It’s really pretty amazing. My mare had her 2nd vaccine Thursday. Her melanomas have started to reduce. I’m a bit hesitant to get too excited. My initial goal is to stop them from getting larger, but I would be beyond ecstatic if they were to reduce in size too! Next visit the vet will measure them and see exactly what the difference in size is.

[suzyq]

Where can you get this vaccine?

[oldernewbie]

[QUOTE=First Dance;8709896]
Looks like we are headed in the right direction! It’s really pretty amazing. My mare had her 2nd vaccine Thursday. Her melanomas have started to reduce. I’m a bit hesitant to get too excited. My initial goal is to stop them from getting larger, but I would be beyond ecstatic if they were to reduce in size too! Next visit the vet will measure them and see exactly what the difference in size is.[/QUOTE]

Oh Yay! Yay! Yay! (I’ll get excited for you!) It is a very positive sign that she showed a response! Yay!!!

[oldernewbie]

[QUOTE=suzyq;8709963]
Where can you get this vaccine?[/QUOTE]

It is manufactured by Merial. Do you have a vet school near you? I would start there and talk to an equine internal med specialist or a veterinary oncologist. I have heard that Merial loosened their early restrictions on who can administer it but it may be easiest to start with the vets that have always been allowed to use it. (See earlier posts in this thread.) Use in horses is off label at this moment but trials are underway to approve it for horses.

[First_Dance]

Lol! Thank you!!! I’m relieved too. I was really nervous she would be one of the very few that wouldnt react to it. However, my Equine vet spoke to the veterinarian that has trialed the vaccine on 60 horses, and the good news is that he felt it helped all of them. (Some more dramatic than others)

[Meredith_Clark]

I posted another post before I saw this one.

I contacted our barn vet about getting this vaccine and was quoted $3300 for the initial 4 and then about $500 every 6 months. Quite discouraging.

[oldernewbie]

[QUOTE=Meredith Clark;8723229]
I posted another post before I saw this one.

I contacted our barn vet about getting this vaccine and was quoted $3300 for the initial 4 and then about $500 every 6 months. Quite discouraging.[/QUOTE]

Shop around. Call a university vet hospital. While I may be getting a good rate since my horse was patient #1, other here have posted $500 per injection for the first 4. The barn vet may also be trying to recover the cost of the injector on the first patient.

Also, their answer does not reflect the protocol as I understand it. See earlier posts in this thread for the protocol OSU and others are following. I don’t know if Merial has changed it and I’m just not aware of it, but…

Try the vet schools in your area…

ETA: As I am further along in the treatment, it’s costing me about $1500 a year. Money well worth it as my horse is healthy and usable. People spend way more than that on supplements, lameness, etc. My horse would be blind or dead by now, or I would have spent $2K having his eye removed, or

[oldernewbie]

Hoping I’m not jinxing myself by posting this, but here goes…

The very small internal masses remaining on his neck have not changed a bit since March. I am crossing my fingers and going for a 6 month interval after consulting with OSU. So, his next injection will be in September.

We all agree that if anything changes before then, I will shove his gray self on the trailer and take him up there for another injection pronto.

Let’s all cross our fingers, jingle, and hope that the Oncept keeps working!

[oldernewbie]

It was off to OSU this morning for Mr Ay-rab’s 12th Oncept injection. We made it 6 months - his remaining small masses were stable the entire time. Yay for Oncept, yay for my wallet, most importantly, yay for my horse!!!

The edema in front of his ocular melanoma has noticeably lightened since November 2015. We go to his ophthalmologist next month so it will be very interesting to see what she has to say.

And wow - this topic has had over 11,000 views! :yes:

I will post a link to a picture from today just for fun when I can get it from DH.

:):)

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=oldernewbie;8859256]
It was off to OSU this morning for Mr Ay-rab’s 12th Oncept injection. We made it 6 months - his remaining small masses were stable the entire time. Yay for Oncept, yay for my wallet, most importantly, yay for my horse!!!

The edema in front of his ocular melanoma has noticeably lightened since November 2015. We go to his ophthalmologist next month so it will be very interesting to see what she has to say.

And wow - this topic has had over 11,000 views! :yes:

I will post a link to a picture from today just for fun when I can get it from DH.

:):):)[/QUOTE]

Wonderful news, sure seems to be working for you and your horse.

Thank you for the report.

[twelvegates]

Thanks for the updates.

[oldernewbie]

Greetings Everyone!

Today it was off to Lexington for a visit with Mr Ay-rab’s favorite ophthalmologist. Because of my knee surgery this summer we did not visit her at the usual 6 month interval, so I was very interested to see what she had to say after not seeing his eye for 10 months.

Good news - the verdict is that the mass on his cornea is stable if not smaller. The lesion next to his optic nerve hasn’t changed at all. Many smiles all around, he hopped back on the trailer and we eventually made it home - somehow avoiding a total standstill on I-75.

I felt sorry for my poor horse - it was 88 in Lexington, he’s got his winter coat, and all he did was sweat in spite of me having every window, vent, and slider open on the trailer. Had to give him a bath when he got home!

Very happy here - I freakin’ love science!!!

[Carshon]

So very excited to see this post. We have a mare with a tumor on her eyelid. Looking at every option we can to treat it. She is 19 and in great condition but we want to avoid surgery as she does not do well with most medications

[Boerlin27]

Hy Everyone!

My name is Katharina, I’m 26 and from Austria. I’m reading this now for a while.
I have a 8 year old not totally gray mare. We are doing a bit Showjumping. She has several melanomas on her body since she was 4 or 5. 2 months ago she underwent surgery to remove a fist size melanoma on her tail. We had to remove it because ist was bloody, purulent and broken up. The other ones on her body are really small. This was the first time she was in the clinic(in Vienna) and that she was examined by an oncologist. I knew she had some on her body but he found 2 fist size melanomas in her body. One inside the udder and one near the intestine. This was a whole new story because that means if this will get bigger she will die of a colic in a few years. I was really shocked!! She is just 8 years old and feeling good and had never some health problems.
So I was searching for some informations about the vaccine and I found this thread. I asked my doctor if he could get this vaccine and try it out. He said that he is not sure if this could help because she already has so many of them(he has 30years experience with melanomas and never had such a young horse with so many melanomas, and that although she has only one gray gene), but he can ask Merial if it’s possible to send him this vaccine. Furtonately they said yes! He sent them details from my horse and me and got the vaccine. I had only to sign a paper that the vaccine has no authorization in Austria and for horses, but ok I can live with it!
Last week on Monday she got the vaccine for the first time. No changes yet, they didn’t grew but also get not smaller. I have to drive all 2 weeks to the clinic (4 hours to drive), altogether 4 times. I hope it will help!!! She is the first horse in Austria to try this vaccine. 1 vaccine costs 400€, much money for me but when it helps…
Do you think it will help although the melanomas haven’t changed yet? And have you ridden/move your horse during the treatment?
I ride her a bit, the doctor said it’s ok.
I hope you understand everything, my english is not perfect

Kind regards
Katharina