Wart/Lump/Sarcoid/Other? Any Ideas and Advice on Treatment?

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mickey

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The picture below shows a lump which appeared on my horse's back some months ago. To be honest, I might have been ignorant but I really thought it was a simple wart.
I asked my physio if she had seen it and what she thought, and she did not seem unduly concerned so I planned to ask the vet to look at it next time he came out to see my horse.

The vet was out last week seeing another horse so I asked him to take a look. I really thought he was going to give me something to remove warts, but he said that he would like to take a wide-margin biopsy and send it off to be analysed to see if it could be a sarcoid or lymphoma. He said that, in his own words, he did 'not think it was a calcified lump'.

The 'lump' is about 5mm tall, rounded with a soft even appearance. It has not grown over the months (well that I can tell). If I push my finger into the top it does cause the tissue to indent, reforming as I remove my finger. It causes no pain reaction. I can not feel any hardness or irregularity.

Any ideas what this might be? I know it it hard to be sure from a photo but any ideas welcome especially on the course of action now.

I am wondering whether to go ahead with his suggestion because it is bound to run into hundreds of pounds - My horse had a lump on his pastern years and years ago that they thought was not granulation tissue - They took a biopsy and it came back negative. None the less, my vet decided to try the liverpool cream and I tried various other things like camrosa. In the end after some tight bandaging with vetwrap for a period (can't recall how long), it never returned.

Because of this incident I am no longer insured for lumps/bumps etc....maybe I should try camrosa first? Or perhaps just go with the veterinary opinion on a way forward?

I am tempted to try camrosa first but don't want to put my horse at risk if this is something serious.

Thank you for reading so far!!
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Please please please don't use camrosa or any other 'remedies'. If it is a sarcoid, camrosa could make it ten times worse - sarcoids are a form of skin cancer, and camrosa is designed to aid skin growth, which obviously is the last thing you want. TBH I would ask your vet to send some pictures to Derek Knottenbelt to ask for his opinion as to whether it is a sarcoid. Also, I know biopsy isn't advised in true sarcoids, so perhaps better to get Prof Knottenbelt's opinion before going down the biopsy route, although if the vet is concerned about lymphoma then a biopsy may be required anyway. It could well be nothing, but is it really worth taking the risk as both sarcoids and lymphoma are serious conditions. If you look up Prof Knottenbelt's sarcoid advice there is lots of info there - I think Box_of_Frogs might have linked to it quite recently on another sarcoid post?
 
leave it alone! might be a blocked sebascous (spelling!!) gland or a skin tag or a wart (papalloma virus). just watch and monitor it, for changs in size or appearance. if not causing horse discomfort leave it be!
 
As above - I'd leave it entirely alone at the moment. Is it under the saddle area? Blocked sebaceous glands are very common here as the area gets sweaty and the pores get blocked. The only way to know if a dodgy lumpy thing IS a sarcoid is to biospy it, as your vet has suggested. But the catch-22 is that the very act of surgical intervention can cause a growth spurt if it is a sarcoid. Whatever you do, don't be tempted to put anything on it that promises on the bottle that it aids new skin growth. If it is a skin cancer, where the skin cells have already started to grow out of control, then it could encourage further out of control growth. No-no products include Camrosa, tea tree gels/oils and aloe vera in any shape or form. For superb guidance on sarcoids google Prof Knottenbelt's definitive article.

Of course, if the lump is under the saddle and starts to ulcerate, bleed, cause pain and/or increase in size, you'll have to think again.
 
I agree with everything Box_of_Frogs has said.
I am surprised that your Vet is suggesting a biopsy if he thinks it may be a sarcoid as it can make them more aggressive. I wish I had taken photos so that I could show you the impact a biopsy can have. I'll have to settle for telling you I changed Vet!
 
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