From:
"Sukie Crandall"
Date: 2007-07-02 15:03:57 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Lymphoma/Lymphosarcoma virus
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
In the cases where lymphoma clumps it appears
to happen a few years after a viral exposure if I
recall right and I have not read of that virus
persisting. The type which clumps is one
specific form, not all types of lymphoma.
While I can't say that means for certain that the
virus can not persist in one, I also can't recall of
hearing a situation where it was thought to have
done so.
You can find more about that cause in here:
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/PDF/Lymphoma_Ferrets.pdf
You will want to read that entire excellent and very
easy to read article as will anyone wanting to learn more
about the topic but page 2 is where that one form is
addressed.
The two times we had clumps here the onsets began within
something like a year and a half or a little more perhaps
of each other and then we were again free of lymphoma,
with more recent additions who lived with those ferrets not
getting it. That speaks to the ones who got it having had
an exposure in the past, but that whatever they had been
exposed to being gone by the time the lymphoma had
advanced to a point where it had symptoms. Of course
that is just an observation of two clumps in one home and
"data is *not* the plural of anecdote".
One thing
about malignancies is that they start small -- one cell -- so
there for many forms a long lead time with very few malignant
cells and the body attacking those a lot in individuals who
don't have special genetic vulnerabilities, so the start of
a malignancy can be years or in longer lived species even
it is thought perhaps decades before the malignancy
becomes apparent. In our family with some of us having
asthma from side stream smoke a cousin, my sister and I
were once told that after we had reached 20 to 30 years
away from that side-stream smoke we probably no longer
needed to be concerned about malignancy from it, so you see
how long lead times can be in other species. In ferrets, a
2 to 3 year lead time is comparable to 20 to 30 years in a
human. BTW, that is similar to a once suggested lead time for
adrenal growths in early neutered ferrets who don't get a lot
of darkness, or don't get preventative medical approaches.
Your vet will need to check to see if this is lymphoma
because a systemic infection can also cause such
symptoms. There are options for chemo therapy, some
of which you can find in the archives, the newest of
which is Dr. Joerg Mayer's one from Tufts.
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
and there is the older approach of using Prednisolone
(sometimes in conjunction with other things). The
approach will depend on your ferret's health, age,
condition, and other factors.
BEGIN QUOTE OF ABSTRACT
Lab Invest. 1995 May;72(5):539-46.Links
Transmission of a chronic lymphoproliferative
syndrome in ferrets.
Erdman SE, Reimann KA, Moore FM, Kanki PJ,
Yu QC, Fox JG.
Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
BACKGROUND: Lymphomas and leukemias are caused
by transmissible viruses in a wide variety of species,
including humans, cattle, and cats. Features of lymphoma
in ferrets suggest that it, too, may have an infectious
etiology. No agent has been identified. EXPERIMENTAL
DESIGN: Cells or cell-free inocula from a ferret with
spontaneous malignant lymphoma were administered i.p.
to six recipient ferrets. Two ferrets received fresh cells,
two received frozen cells, and two received cell-free
culture supernatant. The recipients were monitored
routinely clinically and hematologically, and lymphoma
was confirmed histologically. The lymphomas were
characterized using cytology, cytochemistry,
immunophenotyping, and histology. Cultivated cells from
the donor and recipients were examined using reverse
transcriptase assay, microscopy, and electron microscopy.
RESULTS: All of the six recipient ferrets developed mild
sustained lymphocytosis within 6 weeks of the inoculation.
Two of six were euthanized 14 to 18 months after inoculation.
Lymphoma was later diagnosed in three of the four remaining
ferrets at 24 to 36 months after inoculation. All developed a
chronic indolent syndrome featuring profound splenomegaly,
lymphocytosis with atypia, and histologically polymorphous
lymphoma. Two of the three who developed lymphoma had
received fresh donor lymphoma cells, and the third had received
supernatant from donor cell cultures with elevated reverse
transcriptase activity. Cultivated cells from the affected ferrets
demonstrated reverse transcriptase activity and retrovirus-like
particles. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates horizontal
transmission of malignant lymphoma in ferrets using cell or
cell-free inocula. Clinical and pathologic features of this syndrome
in ferrets resembled virally induced lymphomas in other species.
PMID: 7538182 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
END QUOTE
BEGIN QUOTE OF ABSTRACT
J Comp Pathol. 1992 Jan;106(1):37-47.
Malignant lymphoma in ferrets: clinical and pathological
findings in 19 cases.
Erdman SE, Moore FM, Rose R, Fox JG.
Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Cambridge 02139.
The clinical and pathological findings in 19 ferrets (Mustela
putorius furo) with malignant lymphoma are reviewed.
Peripubescent ferrets had rapidly progressive stage IV high
grade immunoblastic or small non-cleaved cell lymphoma.
Adult ferrets had stage II or IV low grade diffuse small
lymphocytic (DSL) lymphoma, stage IV high grade small
non-cleaved cell lymphoma, or stage IV high grade
immunoblastic polymorphous (IBP) lymphoma. Three ferrets
had concurrent IBP and DSL lymphoma involving different
organs. The IBP admixture of immunoblasts, large atypical
lymphocytes, Reed-Sternberg-like cells, lymphoblasts and
small lymphocytes has been associated with certain retrovirally
associated lymphomas and nodal hyperplasias in man,
non-human primates and cats. Aleutian disease, a
parvovirus-induced lymphoproliferative disease, also involves
clinical and histological features similar to certain lymphomas
ferrets. Seven ferrets tested were seronegative for feline
leukaemia virus antigen. Only one of eight ferrets was positive
for Aleutian parvovirus antibody. The clinical and pathological f
indings are suggestive of a viral aetiology for certain lymphomas
in ferrets.
PMID: 1556256 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
END QUOTE
BEGIN QUOTE OF ABSTRACT
Cancer Invest. 1996;14(3):225-30.
Clusters of lymphoma in ferrets.
Erdman SE, Kanki PJ, Moore FM, Brown SA, Kawasaki TA,
Mikule KW, Travers KU, Badylak SF, Fox JG.
Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
Cluster outbreaks of lymphoma and leukemia have been
associated with viral infections in many species including
humans, cattle, and cats. This study describes epidemiological,
clinical, and pathological features of cluster outbreaks of
lymphoma in multiferret households and examines and compares
the Aleutian disease virus (ADV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV)
status of cases, ferrets at risk, and controls. Three ferret groups
with 21 cases of histologically diagnosed lymphoma (12.6%
cumulative incidence) and their cohabitants (n = 35) were
examined and compared with three control groups (n = 52) of
cohabitating ferrets without lymphoma. A familial distribution
was observed in one group but most cases were not consanguinous.
Ferrets greater than 3 years of age developed chronic disease
in two of the groups and 2-year-old adults had acute disease
in the remaining group. Lymphocytosis, splenomegaly, and
lymphadenopathy were prominent features. Histologically,
predominantly small noncleaved cell and polymorphous
lymphoid lesions were observed. All of the ferrets with
lymphoma that were tested for ADV and FeLV using serology
or PCR were negative. The rate of ADV antibody among cases
or ferrets at risk was not significantly different from controls.
None of the cluster ferrets were seropositive for FeLV p27
antigen using a monoclonal ELISA. Infection with a novel ferret
virus is suspected, but an etiological agent has not yet been
identified.
PMID: 8630683 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
END QUOTE
The following is a different type of cluster. One possibility that
has been mentioned in the past about the following type of
lymphoma (JL) is that perhaps there may be a genetic factor involved:
BEGIN QUOTE OF ABSTRACT
Lab Anim Sci. 1996 Jun;46(3):271-4.
A cluster of cases of juvenile mediastinal lymphoma in a ferret colony.
Batchelder MA, Erdman SE, Li X, Fox JG.
Division of Comparative Medicine, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
Three cases of juvenile mediastinal lymphoma developed in a
laboratory colony of ferrets. Two ferrets became acutely
moribund, and one was found dead with no preceding signs of
illness. Splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, and a large thoracic mass
were the primary features in each case. All three ferrets had
multiorgan metastasis of the tumor. Two ferrets were tested
for feline leukemia virus and Aleutian disease virus with negative results.
PMID: 8799931 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
END QUOTE
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