Evaluating a Novel Oncolytic Therapy for Equine Sarcoid Tumors

Sarcoids are the most common skin tumors affecting horses worldwide and believed to be caused the bovine papilloma virus (BPV). They can be treated with chemotherapy drugs, or removed surgically or with lasers. These tumors can be highly invasive and frequently recur despite treatment. Researchers will analyze the potential of a novel therapy for sarcoid tumors using a genetically modified non-pathogenic Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The team already demonstrated that NDV is an oncolytic virus that targets canine cancer cells. Now, the team will combine NDV with BPV-associated equine sarcoid cells and determine if NDV therapy will kill the more malignant tumor cells. If successful, this new information will inform further development of a novel NDV oncolytic therapy, influencing how these tumors are treated in the future and giving affected horses more healthy years, free of recurrent lesions.