Dealing with a Sarcoid Tumor

Q:

I have a 6 year old gelding who was diagnosed with an occult sarcoid in the summer of 2011.  After the biopsy, it turned into a fibroblastic sarcoid, pedunculated, 4inches by 3 inches.  The vet recommended that we freeze it and he couldn't freeze it himself because he didn't have the equipment.  I have tried toothpaste, which seemed to work but the horse became aggrevated with the treatment.  I have recently banded it (4 days ago).  Do you have any other suggestions or recommendations on how to treat this condition?
What would happen if we cut it off and then freeze it with endo ice? (My DDS dentist has offered to help me)
I live in a rural area with limited veterinary resources.
Thank You,

Francis

A:

This sarcoid is very large sarcoid making for a difficult situation.  Location is another factor (where is this one and is it solitary?) - sarcoids in some areas of the body are less responsive to intervention than others (e.g. the inner thigh is  particularly bad location).  The size you have described could not be "frozen" (cryotherapy) without "debulking" it first, which means excising the bulk of the tumor and then freezing the base.  Sometimes our intervention backfires and the tumor gets worse.  How did the banding work?
 
Dave Sauter, DVM