Pioneering cancer treatment saves python named Jodie Foster: UK zoo
A British zoo Friday hailed the successful treatment of a cancer-stricken python named after Hollywood star Jodie Foster, who became the first snake to receive an innovative treatment combining surgery and electrochemotherapy (ECT).
Chester Zoo in northwest England celebrated the recovery of a 4.5-meter reticulated python named Jodie Foster, who became the first snake to undergo an innovative treatment combining surgery and electrochemotherapy (ECT). The python, 23 years old and at the zoo for two decades, had been struggling with a malignant tumor in her jaw that made eating difficult.
After surgery to remove the tumor, it returned, leading to a second surgery where ECT was also used. ECT combines the cancer drug bleomycin with electrical pulses applied directly to the tumor site, making cancer cells more permeable to the drug. Jodie Foster is now cancer-free, eating normally, and back to her usual bright and feisty self.
Chester Zoo's veterinary team, in collaboration with University of Liverpool cancer specialists, is confident this marks the first time ECT has been used on a snake.
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