All gray horses are susceptible to melanoma, but a new study from the University of Minnesota shows that Quarter Horses are substantially less likely to develop these invasive skin tumors than are horses of other breeds. The study also investigated apossible genetic basis for this difference."The idea [for the study] came from observing patients in the clinic and also during collection of samples from other studies," says Raffaella Teixeira, DVM, MS, DACVIM. "In onecase, a farm with several old, gray Quarter Horses—none of whom had melanoma—was identified. This is very unusual since reports on other breeds suggest that 80 percent of gray horses older than 15 will get melanoma."
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