Thyroid cancer treatment, any idea for treatment?

[Tixe14]

Hello all,

A couple weeks ago we found out one of our geldings (16 years old) had a large tumor mass in his chest and a significant accumulation of liquid in the chest cavity. We have drained the chest cavity and did a biopsy that although not conclusive, came back as a carcinoma or thyroid origin. According to our vets, his quality of life has not deteriorated to the point it would call for euthanasia, but we’re tying to figure out how much happy time we can give him and how…does anyone have experience with this type of diagnosis and has treatment to suggest? we have put him on levothyroxine for now hoping it might slow down cancer activity.
Thank you in advance for your help during such an awful time.

[NaturallyHappy]

Hi…I have no experience w this, but I have a chestnut horse w a melanoma. Apparently that is very rare and usually very bad news. I contacted several university vet schools for help and received excellent advice over the phone. Fortunately, we had an excellent outcome. Perhaps contacting anyone within driving distance might be an idea. Because my pony’s problem was so rare, academic veterinarians were very interested. I wish you the best.

[Ghazzu]

For clarification–the mass from the thorax was what you biopsied?
If so, it sounds as though the tumor is metastatic, and I’d suggest just making him comfortable and happy.