Discussion

Apprich, V., Licka, T.
Aim: To document a new and potentially effective therapy for canker aimed at reduction of hospitalisation period and recurrence rate. Methods: Three horses (2 Warmbloods, 1 Draught Horse) with clinical signs of canker were hospitalised from July 2011 to February 2012 at the Equine Clinic of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. One horse was tested, and bovine papillomaviral DNA was detected. Two horses showed clinical signs in one front hoof, and in one horse all 4 hooves were affected. Therapy included initial surgical debridement. In 2 horses recurrent canker tissue had to be removed prior to the beginning of cisplatin chemotherapy. Three to 6 days after debridement, at the time of visibly healthy granulation tissue in the absence of any tissue suspicious of canker, cisplatin chemotherapy was started. A topical formulation within a foot bandage was applied under strict precautions. All horses were treated topically 10 times every other day. In one horse a small amount of canker tissue had to be removed after the 5th cisplatin treatment, so that the treatment interval was 3 days on this occasion. Affected hooves were kept under bandage until the wounds were superficially keratinised and discharged within 2 weeks after last topical cisplatin chemotherapy. Results: In 2 horses follow-up information was obtained between 3 and 7 months after discharge. No recurrence was reported. Conclusion: Similar to equine sarcoids, a concurrent detection of bovine papillomaviral DNA can occur in canker, and the apparent success of topical cisplatin chemotherapy underlines this similarity.