Therapeutic management of ocular squamous cell carcinoma in the horse: 43 cases (1979–1989)

Abstract

Summary The records of 50 horses with ocular squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) presented to the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital over an 11 year period were reviewed to determine the influence of therapy on the outcome of the case. Follow‐up information was obtained for 43 of the 50 cases. The disease was more prevalent in the light horse breeds; however, the draft breeds also were at risk. There was no sex predisposition and the average age was 11.8 years. Tumour recurrence was significant when surgery alone was performed. The eyelid and nictitating membrane were the primary sites for tumor recurrence. Cases in which adjunctive therapy was used correlated with a lower rate of recurrence.

Mitomycin C, with or without surgery, for the treatment of ocular squamous cell carcinoma in horses

“…Draught horse breeds, horses with a light coat colour, and those with reduced or absent pigmentation in the conjunctiva and nictitans appear to be at greater risk of developing the disease (Schwink 1987, Dugan and others 1991a, Mosunic and others 2004, Gearhart and others 2007, Kafarnik and others 2009). Numerous treatment modalities have been described, including surgery, cryotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy, radiofrequency hyperthermia, laser ablation and chemotherapy (Rebhun 1990 , Wilkie and Burt 1990, Dugan and others 1991b, King and others 1991, McCalla and others 1992, Théon and Pascoe 1995, Chahory and others 2002, Mosunic and others 2004, Hewes and Sullins 2006, Giuliano and others 2008). The reported tumour recurrence rates vary from 11.9 to 66.7 per cent depending on the treatment modality (Schwink 1987, Dugan and others 1991b, King and others 1991, Mosunic and others 2004, Plummer and others 2007).…”

Equine ocular squamous cell carcinoma: a case report

“…It is effective when the lesion is excised with an appropriately wide safety margin or, if not feasible, an adjunctive therapy may be applied to eliminate other tumour cells (Schwink 1987;Dugan et al 1991b). It has been demonstrated that a combination of surgical treatment and supportive therapy results in a lower rate of recurrences (King et al 1991;Theon and Pascoe 1995;Theon et al 1999;Mosunic et al 2004). A study by Mosunic et al (2004) showed that the recurrence rate after surgical excision was 44.1%, whereas this index was reduced to 11.9% when surgical treatment was combined with an adjunctive therapy.…”

“…Adjunctive treatment may involve cryotherapy (Schoster 1992;Bosh and Klein 2005), radiofrequency hyperthermia (Wilkie and Burt 1990), photodynamic therapy (English et al 1990;Guiliano et al 2008;Michau et al 2012), immunotherapy (McCalla et al 1992), chemotherapy with cisplatin (Theon et al 1993), 5-fluorouracyl (Pucket and Gilmour 2014) or mitomycin C (Clode et al 2012), radiotherapy such as brachytherapy (King et al 1991), interstitial therapy (Chachory et al 2002), and beta radiation (Walker et al 1986;Rebhun 1990;Plummer et al 2007).…”

“…The recurrence rate ranges from 11.1% to 66.7% and is associated with factors such as the type of applied treatment (King et al 1991;Mosunic et al 2004;Michau et al 2012). In addition, recurrences are more common in OSCC affecting the eyelids than in the corneal form of the tumour (Dugan et al 1991b;King et al 1991).…”

“…OSCC has a low metastatic rate of 18% (Schwink 1987;King et al 1991). The recurrence rate ranges from 11.1% to 66.7% and is associated with factors such as the type of applied treatment (King et al 1991;Mosunic et al 2004;Michau et al 2012).…”