First, I would like to state I highly disagree with this term. Just
because the symptoms have disappeared does not mean that the cancer has
been cured. It is a very strong word that should not be used lightly,
especially in medical discussions.

Tumor: An abnormal mass of cells.
Benign Tumor: non-cancerous tumor.
Malignant Tumor: cancerous tumor.

Though there are literally hundreds of different types of cancer,
there are five main categories that they fall into.

Carcinoma - cancer that starts in the skin or tissue surrounding
internal organs.

Sarcoma - cancer that starts in the bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood
vessels, and other connective or supporting tissue.

Leukemia - cancer that begins in blood forming tissue like bone marrow
and cause large numbers of abnormal blood cells to enter the blood
stream.

Lymphoma - cancer that starts in the cells of the lymphatic tissue or
immune system.

Central nervous system cancers - cancers that start in the brain and
spinal cord tissue.

Now all of these cancers is termed where they start. It does not mean
that they can not spread to other places. That is why Lymphoma is so
deadly because it manages to destroy the lymph nodes which would stop
them and spread to other parts of the body rapidly. This is one of the
biggest concerns with women with breast cancer since the cancer can
start there and the since the lymph nodes are so close if they reach
them, then the prognosis is not good.

The belief that if a ferret has insulinoma or adrenal cancer that they
probably have or will probably have the other is not unfounded. To it,
you need to know what type it is. Both adrenal cancer and insulinoma
(pancreatic cancer) are known as Carcinoma cancers. That means they can
spread to any other tissue or organ fairly easily. Though is is not
improbable to have a different type of cancer, such as lymphoma, also
spread and become Carcinoma as well, it is not as easy as if they were
the same type. The whole thing is certain cancers metastasis (spread)
to other parts of the body. Now this does not always happen, but the
longer they have the cancer, the more likely. Also when cancer spread
it is always the same cell it originated from, but it does not mean it
does any less damage to the tissue it infects. That means if cancer
spreads from the adrenal gland to the pancreas that it will still do as
much damage as if it started there, it just tells the doctor where the
cancer originally started if they send of the cancer cells. Usually in
ferrets, since they hide pain so well, they have usually had the cancer
a while before we know it. Also in a lot of cases removing the entire
organ is not an option as it can be for most cancers in humans, nor do
we typically follow it with chemotherapy to kill any hidden cancerous
cells.

Now, I am not a vet, or doctor, but I think they will discover that in
ferrets that if they have cancer in one place, for instance the adrenal
gland, that is likely to spread to the pancreas in ferrets and vice
versa. For instance with breast cancer in humans, it most commonly
spreads to bones, lungs, brain, or liver, though they can spread
elsewhere. It is just places where it is more likely to metastasis to.
I believe if a ferret had either pancreatic cancer or adrenal cancer,
it is most likely to spread to each other and also liver or kidneys.
Now again I do not have any professional degree, but I hope this is
explains to everyone why I believe what I believe. I have not seen
proof yet of a cure for pancreatic cancer nor adrenal cancer, since no
studies have been done on the ferrets a year later or two years. Also
no one, at least as far as I can tell, where there ferret has died of
another cause such as liver disease has had their ferret autopsied and
the cells sent to a lab to prove that it was not cancer, and that the
cancer did not originate in the pancreas. Since I have been able to
keep a ferret two plus years relatively symptom free with melatonin
and feedings, and considering most come down with it at four plus
years, I will not do surgery until there is a cure or it is not
manageable. Don't get me wrong my vet is well versed with ferrets and
has a new $50,000 dollar laser to be able to do the more delicate
surgeries, I would rather not stress out my ferret more than he/she
has to be. This will be my last post on this subject. Anyone with
questions, responses, or flames please email me off list.

Sincerely,
Ireann
(Apologies to Big for length, and thanks for his wonderful work and
continued efforts on the FML)
-- 
Life is like a box of chocolates, its full of nuts

[Posted in FML 5763]