A 15-foot (4.5-metre) reticulated python at Chester Zoo is believed to be the first snake in the world to undergo electrochemotherapy, a pioneering cancer treatment commonly used in humans.
The 50kg python, named Jodie Foster after the Hollywood actor, is 23 years old. Zoo keepers became concerned about her health after noticing that she was eating less and spending more time inactive in her enclosure.
Jodie was diagnosed with fibrosarcoma, a malignant tumour in her jaw. Although the tumour was initially removed through surgery, it later returned and began invading her jawbone, putting her life at risk.
Veterinarians subsequently adapted electrochemotherapy for Jodie. Months after the procedure, she is reportedly eating normally and has returned to her usual active and feisty behaviour.
Zoo staff have also observed that Jodie can still strike, grip and swallow food without difficulty, despite the treatment involving part of her jaw.
Ian Ashpole, a veterinary officer at Chester Zoo, said further surgery alone was unlikely to be sufficient after the tumour returned and began destroying the jawbone. The veterinary team therefore worked with cancer specialists to determine whether electrochemotherapy could be adapted for use on a snake.
Because of Jodie’s size, two operating tables had to be pushed together to create a platform roughly the size of a double bed. She was anaesthetised in her enclosure before being carefully transported to the zoo’s veterinary centre for the 90-minute procedure.
Ashpole removed the tumour and part of the diseased jawbone before administering electrochemotherapy to target any remaining cancer cells.
The treatment combines the cancer drug bleomycin with carefully controlled electrical pulses delivered to the tumour site. The pulses temporarily increase the permeability of cancer cells, allowing the drug to enter them more effectively.
Jose Alvarez Picornell of the University of Liverpool’s Department of Small Animal Clinical Science said the procedure was the first known use of electrochemotherapy in a snake and highlighted the importance of collaboration between veterinary and cancer specialists.
A final examination this week found no signs of the cancer returning.
Picornell said details of the procedure would be formally published to allow veterinary professionals around the world to learn from the treatment and potentially build on the approach in future cases.