With each treatment, the mare appeared to feel better. A year later, she had marked improvement in both gait and emotional status, with no sign of a recurring tumor. | Photo: Courtesy Dr. Enrico Spugnini

Hoof cancer is rare, but it certainly does occur. In Drami’s case, it was a 5-by-6 cm mass of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) protruding from the front of a hind hoof, which was constantly bleeding. The 20-year-old mare was lame and depressed, her treating veterinarians said. But after two surgeries and electrochemotherapy, she is now in full remission.

“It’s been challenging, but it’s always such a great emotional feeling and reward to defeat such a terrible disease,” said Enrico Spugnini, DVM, PhD, equine oncologist at Biopulse, in Naples, and Equivet Roma Hospital, in Rome, Italy.

“In terms of welfare, it has been well worth the treatment the mare went through,” he said. “And since there’s such a severe lack of information on cancers in horses, we may also have potentially opened a new field of medical procedures in equine veterinary medicine through this experience