Intratumoral chemotherapy with cisplatin in oily emulsion in horses.

The research article focuses on assessing the effectiveness of cisplatin, a chemotherapy drug, delivered directly into tumors in horses. The study found the treatment to be reasonably successful in managing various types of tumors in horses.

Study Participants and Methodology

• The study incorporated 20 horses with a total of 30 lesions to analyze the effects of intratumoral chemotherapy using cisplatin mixed with sesame oil.
• The tumors comprised of equine sarcoids (19 instances), squamous cell carcinomas (7 instances), and squamous cell papillomas (4 instances).
• Treatment involved four sessions of direct cisplatin chemotherapy into the tumors at two-week intervals.
• A particular formulation of cisplatin in sesame oil was utilized with the specific intention of restricting the drug’s escape from the point of injection.

Dosage and Results

• The average dosage administered during each session was 0.97 (+/- 0.17, SEM) mg of cisplatin for every cm3 of tumor tissue, treating tumor volumes between 10 to 20 cm3.
• It was noticed that the dosage was higher for smaller tumors and slightly less for larger ones.
• All horses demonstrated signs of tumor regression. Full response was witnessed in 18 of the sarcoids, 5 of the squamous cell carcinomas, and all 4 of the squamous cell papillomas.

Post-treatment Observations and Findings

• The average relapse-free interval was 21.6 months for horses with sarcoid and 14 months for those with carcinoma/papilloma.
• The one-year, relapse-free rate stood at 87% for equine sarcoid and 65% for carcinoma/papilloma.
• For horses presenting a relapse, 70 percent experienced tumor recurrence outside the treated area.
• There were minimal local toxic effects associated with cisplatin.
• Overall, intratumoral cisplatin chemotherapy was identified to be a practical and effective treatment for sarcoid and squamous cell carcinoma/papilloma in horses.