A variety of sarcoid and skin tumor treatments and management topics were discussed by veterinarians during a Table Topic at the 2009 American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Convention. All veterinarians in the room had treated skin tumors and were willing to discuss their successes and failures.

Since sarcoids are the most common skin tumor in the horse, their treatment was the focus. Everyone seemed to use surgical excision as part of their treatment plan, but the tumors that did not respond to surgery alone or were inoperable were the most difficult to manage. Particularly difficult areas to treat seemed to be around the eyes and ears.

The most favorable adjunctive treatment seemed to be intralesional chemotherapy, using either cisplatin beads or injections of cisplatin, carboplatin, or 5 fluorouracil. For veterinarians with access to a laser, the laser was used to treat specific tumors. Cryosurgery seemed to be very useful in the hands of practitioners who used it often.

Many topical treatments had been tried with varying success. Some veterinarians had excellent success with XXTerra, an herbal compound of heavy metals, while others found that it caused sarcoids to become very aggressive