# Weird equine vet treatment: Incisions with slices of tumors stitched in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-equine-vet-treatment-incisions-with-slices-of-tumors-stitched-in/767873 "2016-10-07T18:11:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-equine-vet-treatment-incisions-with-slices-of-tumors-stitched-in/767873/1 "2016-10-07T18:11:15Z")
OK, I did not speak to the vet directly. This came from the horse owner, but I am very clear on what he told me. Here’s the story: The horse had some kind of non-cancerous tumor growth on its ear. Not life-threatening, but unsightly , and probably prone to getting cut and irritated. The vet cut it off, and took some slices of it, made some incisions somewhere in the horse’s forequarters, and inserted the slices. According to what the owner was told, that was a way of forestalling the appearance of tumors elsewhere. (I guess similar to a vaccination.) Sounded pretty crazy to me. Ever heard of anything like that? Time to recommend a new vet? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-equine-vet-treatment-incisions-with-slices-of-tumors-stitched-in/767873/2 "2016-10-07T18:24:23Z")
Sounds woo as hell to me. But I wouldn’t dismiss it completely out of hand, either - although I might want a second opinion or some cites from a major vet university before I allowed a vet to do this to my animal. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-equine-vet-treatment-incisions-with-slices-of-tumors-stitched-in/767873/3 "2016-10-07T18:29:32Z")
Sounds like one of the treatment options for [sarcoidosis in horses.](http://www.petmd.com/horse/conditions/cancer/c_hr_equine_sarcoid) From here: [http://www.thehorse.com/articles/29000/evidence-based-equine-sarcoid-treatments-reviewed](http://www.thehorse.com/articles/29000/evidence-based-equine-sarcoid-treatments-reviewed): > [@](#): > > Autogenous Vaccines and Sarcoid Implantation–Essentially autogenous vaccines are created using tissue from the patient’s own body to prompt an immune response, Rashmir-Raven explained. “Similarly, the removal, freezing, and reimplantation of a sarcoid into the same horse has demonstrated success in a limited number of cases,” she added. Also, while tumor implantation using sarcoids from a different horse has decreased the size of some sarcoids, it has also been known to stimulate the growth of new tumors, she reminded. “Because other less-invasive treatments frequently work well and tumor transplantation from a donor horse bears risks–such as tumor production and transmission of other diseases–this procedure should be reserved for refractory cases,” Rashmir-Raven stressed. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-equine-vet-treatment-incisions-with-slices-of-tumors-stitched-in/767873/4 "2016-10-07T18:41:44Z")
Thanks. That’s not exactly a glowing review of the success of the treatment, though. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-equine-vet-treatment-incisions-with-slices-of-tumors-stitched-in/767873/5 "2016-10-07T19:15:37Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Thanks. That’s not exactly a glowing review of the success of the treatment, though. It’s a shitty disease. I don’t think there is any one treatment modality that is the gold standard. The horse-owner I know who had her horse treated via autogenous tissue implantation trailered her horse to a university veterinary hospital to recieve the treatment and the horse improved. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-equine-vet-treatment-incisions-with-slices-of-tumors-stitched-in/767873/6 "2016-10-07T20:39:59Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > It’s a shitty disease. I don’t think there is any one treatment modality that is the gold standard. The horse-owner I know who had her horse treated via autogenous tissue implantation trailered her horse to a university veterinary hospital to recieve the treatment and the horse improved. Praise Jesus. 🙂 I understand, though. With these terminal diseases that have no good mainline treatment, trying the fringier (while still rooted in medical science) stuff can be a reasonable option. If nothing else, you help prove what doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-equine-vet-treatment-incisions-with-slices-of-tumors-stitched-in/767873/7 "2016-10-08T08:07:00Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > OK, I did not speak to the vet directly. This came from the horse owner, but I am very clear on what he told me. Here’s the story: > > The horse had some kind of non-cancerous tumor growth on its ear. Not life-threatening, Its thought to be infectious disease, BPV (like HPV but in bovines, and in equines despite the name). So the horse has not yet got a strong immunity to it, and the tumour on the ear wouldn’t give it that immunity, as its not going to trigger a full on reaction. (the body knows not to create a massive boil in an ear.) The sarcoidosis is very rare in the horse older than 4 years, so they think that that by 4 years old every horse has built up immunity… And so that the transplant into the flesh might give it that immunity… Immunity to the sarcoidosis cells if not to BPV. As the transplant won’t hurt, its possibly worthwhile to do the transplant as immunotherapy… triggering the horses own immune system to fight sarcoidosis. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2016, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-equine-vet-treatment-incisions-with-slices-of-tumors-stitched-in/767873/8 "2016-10-08T09:52:47Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Praise Jesus. 🙂 > > I understand, though. With these terminal diseases that have no good mainline treatment, trying the fringier (while still rooted in medical science) stuff can be a reasonable option. If nothing else, you help prove what doesn’t work. Sarcoidosis is not a terminal disease. 🙂 The animals do not die from it, but they do create the unsightly masses that can get ulcerated. As mentioned, it is caused by bovine papillomavirus. Yes, some species (not just horse) can get infected with another species’ papillomavirus.