From:
Pam Sessoms
Date: 2004-09-25 14:00:05 UTC
Subject: Re: [ferrethealth] chemo for lymphosarcoma?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <5c46b4a40409250700ab79dc9@mail.gmail.com>
> Provided a ferret meets all requirements to qualify as a "good candidate",
> is chemotherapy still a treatment of choice for lymphosarcoma?
I have not personally had a ferret undergo chemo for lymphosarcoma,
but I make chicken gravy for a ferret that my vet has treated
successfully: 18 months and still going strong (knock on wood). He
was diagnosed via surgical biopsy with a very aggressive intestinal
lymphoma; he was having a lot of mysterious GI signs and was taken to
surgery. My vet did a pretty full course of chemo and implanted a
port for venous access under the skin to make giving the chemo much
easier. He was diagnosed in Feb or March of 2003 and started chemo
in March 2003. There were ups and downs during the treatment, with a
CBC prior to each dose of chemo to be sure his body could handle it.
His quality of life was pretty good most of the time, although he
would only eat chicken gravy during his entire course of chemo; it did
make giving his oral meds much easier as they were just mixed in with
the gravy.
There was no lympho detectable via ultrasound or in bloodwork in Jan
2004, and as far as I know, he continues to look clear and acts happy
and healthy today. Of course, no one knows how long this will last,
but it's been pretty successful so far. I think they had to stop the
chemo drugs months ago because of how his CBC looked; didn't think he
could handle more, but so far, it looks like the lympho is in
remission.
I think your mention of "good candidate" is important. This ferret
was young, only two or three years old when diagnosed, and had no
other health problems at the time. Of course it doesn't seem to work
for some other cases at all, although I've heard of a few other
success stories. Probably lots of variables. Let me know if you
would like my vet's contact info or same for the specialist my vet
consulted with when putting this ferret's protocol together.
Best wishes,
-Pam S.