Sarcoids...please help.

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Allover

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I have had a horse turn up on the yard where i work and he has a small fist sized sarcoid on his tummy. The owner has put a band around the base of the tumour and it appears to be "working". Around the area where the band is it looks to be oozing some yellow "gunk". There is no swelling at the base of the tumour. I am aware that with tumours you need to be carefull about what you put on them so as not to aggravate the area and make the tumours worse. Would putting, betedine or purple spray on it be contra-indicated?

Thanks
 
Assuming the owner knows what he/she is doing, the lump may not be a true sarcoid. It may be a warty growth or an angleberry. If so, one fairly standard method of dealing with them is to band them tightly and eventually they just drop off. If it's a sarcoid then the owner is dicing with the horse's health. As you say, sarcoids are a type of skin cancer and they are best left strictly alone as long as they are not ulcerated, in the way of tack or growing. If a sarcoid IS problematic in some way then the owner needs the vet out to firstly confirm that it IS a sarcoid. From there, there are a range of treatments, some work, some don't. At no time should an owner apply any product to a confirmed sarcoid that says things like "aids rapid skin healing" because the last thing you want with a skin cancer is to encourage its growth. Anything with tea tree oil or aloe vera init is a definite no-no. Owners have to ask themselves, if they had a skin cancer say on their arm, would they cheerfully slap on half a dozen different creams from a health shop or would they go straight to their GP for urgent advice and treatment. I would recommend Prof Knottenbelt's definitive guide to sarcoids. He's a world expert. The bottom line is that the only predictable thing about a sarcoid is its UNpredictability. Can't remember the link but google Knottenbelt and sarcoids and you'll find it.
 
Box of frogs, thanks very much for the reply.

From your response i would gather then that putting nothing on it would be the best solution and maybe hosing gently with warm water to remove any straw etc that gets stuck to it?

I will speak to someone about getting a vet up to see him, you never know...........
 
It really does depend absolutely on the diagnosis. If it's been confirmed that it isn't a sarcoid, and it's being treated as an angleberry/wart, then tying it off is a recognised treatment. But if the owner hasn't had the diagnosis confirmed then I'd be very very worried. There is a link between flies and the spread of sarcoids, so if that raw and oozing area is all sarcoid tissue, then I bet £1000 that the flies are having a field day and they may be spreading the sarcoid to other areas on the horse and, potentially, to other horses! Even if it IS an angleberry, then if it's oozing and raw, it needs attention. It sounds as if the owner hasn't tied it off right. The tying off needs to restrict ALL circulation and the lump should just die, wither and drop off. If the horse was mine, I'd have the vet out - it may be that antibx are needed. It sounds as if the lump is infected and that can turn nasty very quickly if the tying off isn't done properly or if it IS a sarcoid.
 
I have asked that a vet comes up today to have a look at it, fingers crossed we can do something for the boy. Interesting (and quite scary) to know that they can be passed from horse to horse by flies!
 
it is my understanding that flies can only transmit sarcoids to other parts of the same horse or to other horses with similar dna ie a foal or sibling.
 
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