Melanoma in the eye, any advice?

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rachaelr

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have been to see a horse that I was very keen on, ticked all the right boxes, but upon checking him over I noticed he had melanoma in his right eye. He only appears to have it there. I've read some articles that say its not much of an issue so long as its not internal. Im going to think things over before deciding if i want to take things further and get a vetting done, and would be very appreciative of some advice from people that have dealt with this before. Hes 10yo grey Irish Draught.
Thanks
 
I had a New Forest pony with what was believed to be melanoma in his left eye after finding what looked like a long hair squiggled and stuck to his eyeball amongst a long 'inky splodge' in the bottom corner of his eye. My vet at the time contacted the Animal Health Trust and after she described it, that it was possibly a melanoma was their conclusion and he may possibly have lost his eye in the end.
 
I think the least you'd have to worry about is loss of an eye-and after a vetting, melanoma and associated costs will be exempted. There's no efficient treatment for melanoma atm and having lost an 11yo to them this year I would never put myself through that again. Melanomas are always malignant at some point-there is no way of knowing when that point is for any one animal and the lack of any real research or treatment is quite staggering. Prof Knottenbelt said recently that actively growing melanomas in younger horses (up until late teens) are almost always fatal and he seems to be the only vet in the UK who has even looked at all the available research.
 
i'm not 100% sure that it is as ive never seen it or taken notice of it before in other horses, but a friend mentioned that it probably will be when I told her about it. He has a lump about 1cm protruding from the bottom eyelid. it curls out. Im going to have another look at it tomorrow. I've read that some horses can live with it happily into old age... but then again some dont.
 
Although not a cure for melanomas for to the best of my knowledge there isnt a cure but there is something that is licensed for both human and animal use that does actually slow down their development and causes them to shrink over a period of time after which they will flare up again but can be controlled without any adverse effects upon the equine. The product is Symitadine - it is as said licensed for both animal and human in human I believe it is used for ulcers in the stomache - but I know personally that it does work. My advice speak to your vet first or else do a search for symitadine might be spelt wrong.
 
cimetidine showed some results in one study-this has never been repeated successfully and most vets give it a 50% effectiveness but not sure what they are basing that on. There may be some anecdotal evidence but a quick online search will show you that its very inconclusive-it may help a few by slowing their progress but its not something to bank on. UC Davis are no longer recommending it (and its much cheaper in the US) or cisplatin. Also, in the UK, the dose of cimetidine needed to have an effect works out at just under £300 per month. Its not licensed for horses in the UK, hence the price.

The fact is that people will tell you that cimetidine, frankincense, garlic, turmeric and all kinds of stuff works, that horses live to a grand old age and its far more likely something else will kill them. There is very little evidence for any of them. When you lose a horse to melanoma, loads of people come out of the woodwork saying they lost one, or a friend lost one to it-all at relatively young ages (teens).

Of course this horse might be fine and if you decide to buy I wish you the very best, but please don't underestimate this cancer or think that current treatment is anything other than a shot in the dark.
 
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