EQUINE SARCOID .3. CHEMOTHERAPY, HOMEOPAT HY AND BIOLOGIC THERAPY

Topical application of caustic agents is a commonly used, but often in effective treatment for sarcoids. Presently, chemotherapy can be perfo rmed with different cytotoxic drugs that cause a more selective cellul ar destruction, such as 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, bleomycin or podoph yllin. Systemic chemotherapy is not commonly used for the treatment of neoplasia in horses because of its high cost and possible toxicity. H owever, repeated topical or intratumoural administration of certain ch emotherapeutic drugs can result in the complete regression of sarcoids without signs of systemic toxicity. Homeopathic treatment of sarcoids is also briefly mentioned, although the results of such treatment rem ain unclear. Biological therapy refers to cancer treatment that produc es antitumoural effects, primarily through activation of the host defe nce mechanisms. Auto-immunisation of sarcoids produces variable clinic al responses and can be considered as useless for the moment. Local BC G vaccination has been commonly used as a biological therapy for sarco ids and the best results have been obtained for sarcoids localised on the head. Recent investigations on the use of interleukin-2 (IL2) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) may open new perspectives for the biologi cal therapy of sarcoids.