Good luck from me and Mr Ay-rab! Keep us posted!
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Goose got his first booster last Thursday! He was a very good citizen, though next time theyâll sedate him for the actual shot because poor guy jumped out of his skin at the needle. Got it done though, and they took a ton of measurements and will continue to each time he goes for a dose. Next one is next Monday.
How is Holly doing? Still regression on her melanoma?
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Great to hear things are sounding positive ! both for Mr Arab and Goose! Holly doing well. Stand by for measurements tomorrow! The parotid size looks to have stalled with no change. After, the initial shrinkage looking so promising, unfortunately looks to have not regressed further. Again, just my observation but yet to be confirmed with calipers! As long as it is not growing insanely fast like it was, I have to feel it is a positive sign that it has just stopped growing.
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Todayâs measurements were a bit tricky to take due to one fluffy pony ! But i spent a bit of time and kept measuring to I was sure I was right on the edge for both width and length of the parotid tumor. The measurement for length is 65 mm and width 64 mm.
The previous measure was taken exactly 8 weeks ago and was 65 mm length x 55 mm width.
Looking back on all the width measurements prior, they had all been 64 mm so perhaps I didnât measure to exact margin in last width measurement. So if I look back at my first measure on 25th Feb the length was 91.5 mm and width 64 mm.
A summary to date of the parotid tumor; slight reduction (approx 30% in length) at the start now appears to be stable.
It will take more time to see if it will reduce or stay the same. Hollyâs booster is in October.
Other melanoma update; the dock and neck melanomas remain the same, no increase or decrease in size from the start. it is a little disappointing due to the cost of the whole process, however to halt their growth could also be regarded as a treatment. I will continue to update here !
Really itâs all good news. That parotid tumor was so worrisome, so to have it smaller has to be a relief. Does it seem flatter to you or is she too fuzzy to tell?
She is still rather fluffy so not sure if it is flatter at this stage. Although on the whole it doesnât look too bad, not really that prominent which is a good thing !
I was very excited to see the initial reduction (of 2.6 cm) and had anticipated it was going to continue, but of course it may still do.
Absolutely yes am glad everything is kept at bay ! The acceleration in growth of the parotid tumor was scary and looking online they just keep growing until they get massive and literally choke the horse ! I am certainly glad I acted quickly and proceeded with the Oncept !
Halting the growth is a huge success in my book! What I was told from several sources is that, with treatment, roughly 60% of the horses saw halted growth, 20% saw regression, 20% kept growing aka Oncept didnât work. The fact that you started when you did and you are so far seeing a positive effect (Halted growth is 100% positive in my opinion) is so great. I really hope regression continues, and that nothing else grows at all.
Goose just had his second loading dose, no noticeable changes yet but I wouldnât expect to see anything change or be able to know if growth has stopped for awhile yet.
Yes absolutely ! and catching it early means the lump (and as it shrunk initally) is quite small.
I really hope the Oncept prevents any further growth, but to be sure it really is time that will tell. Although, sounds promising from Oldernewieâs journey over 4 years of no more lumps!
I feel i have peace of mind knowing that I proceeded with the treatment. 
it would be horrible to not do anything and watch it grow! I will be interested to see how your horse goes.
Hereâs to success !!!
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For anyone interested - The July issue of Practical Horseman is running an article on equine melanoma and treatment options! Really excited that theyâre getting the word out there that there ARE treatment options, and itâs my hope that if more people try and have success with Oncept, it will be easier to get and maybe even a bit cheaper to use. A certain grey horse I happen to be rather fond of might be mentioned in the article, but no spoilers
Holly, not sure if you have access to PH in NZ but worth a mention!
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At what point do you seek treatment? I have ye old grey mare (16yo). She thus far has pretty small ones under the tail. The biggest about the size of a small grape. The others all pencil eraser size. I just found one small one on her vuvlar area. I had one underneath her tail removed when she was just a 2 yo. It was flat, easily popped out and nothing has ever recurred in that spot. She certainly has no issues now but I certainly donât want her to be one of those horse with the tail dock and genitals a goopy black mass of melanomas.
TIA
Susan
We have a 13 year old grey gelding that has a handful of pea sized ones under his tail and one starting on his neck, high up.
Our vet said it was time to start him on the protocol of four shots, once a week, then every so often, see what happens.
He thinks the one on his neck may give problems eventually where it is and if it can be stopped, it may never bother him.
The vet himself has a mid teens gelding that had an apple sized one under his tail and, after the first year from starting treatment, is now less than half itâs original size.
Doesnât work on all horses, or all tumors, but when it does, about 80% of the time, great odds, is worth to have tried.
Only vets with special qualifications can use those treatments.
They require a special applicator and care to work properly.
Our vet is approved for it.
The cost is in the hundreds for each shot, very expensive.
OhâI know the expense:eek:. I want to be proactive. I plan on making an appointment with our local referral hospital at some point and have them take a gander and see what they say. I hope they are able to dispense it The melanomas are not an issue now. I am not content to just let them be and have her butt be compromised multiple tumors and it gets to a point if there are enough that surgery isnât feasible. If they get big enough, on her, they tend to get all macerated and gooey because her tail is set âlow and tightâ as most Andalusiansâ are and things can get messy during fly season. That was the issue I had with the single one I had removed when she was a 2 y.o. . Just wondering what others experience has been.
Susan
Can this vaccine be used as a preventative treatment on a young grey horse before any melanoma develop? I know that it is an expensive course of treatment, but when you consider training, farrier, teeth, chiro, saddle fitting, joint and back films, and love, shelling out another $3k doesnât seem THAT crazy if doing so and maintaining with an annual booster stood a good chance of keeping a grey horse tumor free for the duration. Iâm planning on keeping this one.
There have been trials on this vaccine for some years now.
I heard it was just approved this year for the general public, so they probably still have much to learn, maybe even ways to refine this process to where it can be used as a preventive vaccine.
As of now, I donât think they know enough to say.
Maybe ask your vet, see where your horse is now, if it has any signs yet of melanoma?
From all the many grey horses I have known, 50+ years ago we had a four year old andalusian colt that started showing with them under his tail and they grew like wildfire, very invasive locally and he didnât make it to five.
I also saw some years ago a five year old grey quarter horse that already had very large tumors along his neck.
Most grey horses donât get tumors until in their teens and many of those donât bother them ever, into old age.
As fast as knowledge is growing, I expect in some years of this vaccine being out the product and protocol may have changed.
@Kyrabee In terms of your 16yo, now would likely be the perfect time to start treatment. I decided to go for it when my 13 (now 14) year old developed a massive melanoma on his penis last year. We removed it, and within a few weeks he had more popping up on his penis and under his tail. Same deal - right now theyâre very small, but judging by how rapidly theyâre popping up and given that heâs not that old or near retirement knock wood I wasnât content to sit and wait it out. We started the Oncept loading dose series a few weeks ago, and he goes for his last loading dose next Friday. Then heâll get a booster every 6 months for a few years and weâll see where we are. It is expensive, but I look at it as a maintenance cost for him.
For reference, Iâm in NC and it was $2600 for the loading doses plus a few bucks each visit for sedation. It will be roughly $650 for each booster every 6 months. This will vary on your region, and be prepared to pay the hefty cost up front depending on your vet. Thereâs a ton of good information further up in this thread so take a look.
As for the young horse without any melanoma development, I would chat with your vet. Iâm not sure how effective it would be as a preventative - my understanding is that it attacks pre-existing melanoma, but Iâm no vet or scientist and I bet they would give you a better explanation for yay or nay. It is very costly, however. Iâm struggling with the fact that Iâm going to have to shell out this much money for the rest of his life for this series as itâs ongoing for as long as the horse lives or as long as it holds off melanoma development, and heâs only 14 this year so doing that math is a bit shocking. I donât know that Iâd want to or be able to pay for it in a young horse without melanoma yet, but thatâs just me personally.
This is a fairly new product that has had huge success in dogs and promising, yet tentative, success in horses. Iâve heard more successful accounts of this vaccine than not, and am hopeful for my horse too, but I certainly look forward to them refining and improving the vaccine. Let us know if you find more out about that, @jonem004 !
It is a shame the manufacturer of Oncept does not provide more information on their product. There have been studies done (which one must pay for to view) which shows the vaccine has the most promise for early or small tumors. Tumors that were either small, caught early and using Oncept or de-bulked/removed with surgery; then using Oncept as a preventative, showing the best results.
If the tumor is in a place where de-bulking is not possible, or the tumor is quite large, studies show a good proportion of these melanomas stopped growing.
It is very hard to find information other than a few studies on horses to know for sure the likely outcome for each individual horse and what one can expect.
From personal experience it appears to best stop growth, and a slight reduction (perhaps as mine was caught early).
Based on the above, the earlier you can treat the melanomas whether by surgery, Oncept or other; early intervention is recommended by top Oncologists rather than a wait and see approach (as previously thought).
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Another Holly update we are in the middle of winter here and Holly is a woolly little critter! But with all the fluff added on top of the Parotid tumor it is looking decidedly small overall! I become very focused looking at it intently! however, if I step back and look at Holly as a whole it is not all that noticeable. I am so thankful that it has ceased growing.
I have been warned spring hormones (and as she is a mare) can initiate growth. This is where I will keep a watchful eye and I guess this will put Oncept to the test! Lucky her booster is also in Spring.
Her other tumors also remain unchanged, although i report mostly on the Parotid as this has worried me considerably. So far, all is good
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Great news that itâs decidedly smaller! Fingers crossed it continues on that trend even through the spring.
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Call around, thatâs my advice!
