From:
sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2005-09-30 16:51:46 UTC
Subject: RE: Lymphoma Treatment?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <2319729.1128099106746.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>
The most common treatment for lympho is Prednisolone. Prednisolone skips the liver processing step that Prednisone has so it can help many for whom liver function is compromised. This is not a cure; it is a treatment that does wonders to restore quality of life (and when needed can be used in conjunction with pain meds like Torb depending on the individual situation).
Recently a newer chemo approach, the Tufts Protocol* has been noticed by a number of vets. Certainly, it is not perfect and there are ferrets for whom it does not work and how many is still be determined, I think, but it is both more gentle than past chemo protocols while being stronger than Prednisolone. I suspect that for most it will not cure the lympho simply because so far nothing has cured most cases of lymphoma/lymphosarcoma.
Past chemo protocols have saved a few ferrets but those tend to be ferrets in the prime of life: 3 or 4 years old, and only a small percentage of those who used the approaches.
Compared to some other malignancies lympho is usually slower, with more quality time possible with treatment, but how long a ferret lasts with it varies greatly, depending on the organs involved. So you may be looking at anywhere from a few good months together to over a year of quality time to share IF the problem is lympho.
* Info in the easily searched archives at
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org