From:
dr_bruce_williams
Date: 2002-02-12 22:50:00 UTC
Subject: Re: tumor adrenal
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., Anais <anaisdog@y...> wrote:
> I just heard back from my vet that Quark's left
> adrenal, which she described as should be the size of
> a pencil eraser was the size of her thumb. Her entire
> thumb. She was amazed that he lived through the
> surgery.
>
> That all being said, she's sending it out for biopsy,
> but can any doctor or ferret owner tell me what chemo
> therapy is going to be like for Quark, if it is
> cancer? He'll be 7 in May and it's not the money at
> all that is the issue, it's the quality of life.
> Right now, he's healthy, was eating this morning, the
> day of the surgery, but became very skinny in the past
> month.
Dear Becki:
Chemotherapy is really not used in the treatment of adrenal tumors -
surgical excision is the way to go. There is no chemotherapeutic
agent that has shown proven efficacy against adrenal carcinomas - so
we either go with repeat surgery (cryotherapy can work well in a
clean-up situation) or palliative therapy with Lupron to improve
quality of life.
However, let's look at the good side - adrenal carcinomas rarely
metastasize, so the prognosis is based largely on the adequacy of
excision - so if it was completely taken out (?) the prognosis is
actually pretty good.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams,d VM