Equine Melanoma
Equine Melanoma . Melanomas are the third most common type of skin cancer in horses. How worried should she be? Could it be equine melanoma, she wondered? Melanoma—cancer of the skin's pigment cells—behaves quite differently in horses than in other species, including dogs and humans, and is most commonly, though not necessarily always. Unlike in humans, melanomas in horses are not thought to be caused by exposure to ultraviolet light. However, in horses, melanoma is a type of skin tumor that is associated with coat color, with the grey/black coat most commonly affected. An equine melanoma is a tumor that results from the abnormal growth of melanocytes in horses. Equine melanoma is a common type of skin cancer seen primarily in older, grey horses (over 8 to 10 management and treatment of equine melanoma. It's not just black and white! Human equine melanoma is characterized by an expansive, compact, heavily pigmented, dermal melanocytic proliferation without epid...