Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Immunotherapy of periocular squamous cell carcinoma with metastasis in a pony.
- Journal:
- Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
- Year:
- 1992
- Authors:
- McCalla, T L et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 5-year-old Pony of America mare was brought in because her upper and lower right eyelids were swollen and inflamed. She was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, on her eyelids, along with some eye damage from her scratching at the area. The first treatment using freezing therapy didn’t work, so she received a different treatment called immunotherapy, which involved multiple injections over 17 weeks. While the tumor on her eyelids shrank, it did spread to a nearby lymph node. However, six months later, there were no signs of the cancer on her eyelids, and the lymph node had also gotten smaller. Eighteen months after her diagnosis, there were no signs of the cancer coming back. This case suggests that immunotherapy can be a good option for treating eyelid cancer in ponies, especially when other treatments don’t work.
Abstract
A 5-year-old Pony of America mare was referred for evaluation of inflamed upper and lower right eyelids. Squamous cell carcinoma of the eyelids and ulcerative keratitis secondary to self-trauma were diagnosed. Initial treatment of the eyelid neoplasia with 2 applications of cryotherapy failed to resolve the lesions, and immunotherapy with bacillus of Calmette-Guerin (BCG) was instituted. Multiple injections of BCG over a 17-week period resulted in progressive shrinkage of the tumor mass, but regional metastasis to the ipsilateral submandibular lymph node occurred. Six months later, ocular neoplastic lesions were not evident, and the lymph node had regressed in size. Eighteen months after the diagnosis of metastatic disease, signs of recurrence were not noticed in either the primary or secondary tumor sites. Squamous cell carcinoma of the equine eyelid historically carries a poor prognosis for resolution. Immunotherapy for equine ocular squamous cell carcinoma should be considered as a treatment alternative to cryosurgery, radiotherapy, hyperthermy, and CO2 laser ablation, especially in cases involving the eyelid.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1624344/