>our 8-yr-old male neut.ferret, Gusselwaite The Good, has been diagnosed
>with Transitional Cell Carcinoma, which is growing rapidly and our vet
>has asked me to request Any pertinent medical info or "leads" to info
>about this form of cancer.  Gusselwaite is fairly strong for his age and
>we are planning/have scheduled surgery for the main tumor's removal
>(it's internal, near the lower colon) this coming Monday.
 
Currently, surgical resection is the only form of therapy which offers a
substantial cure rate, and even that is fairly low.  Many transitional
cell carcinomas show microscopic invasion well beyond the visible margin,
so what appears to be adequate excision may not be.  A number of
chemotherapeutic agents are beginning to be evaluated in dogs, such as
piroxicam, carboplatin, and cisplatin, but none have shown better effects
than surgery, and doses for ferrets have not been established.
 
If it is any consolation, you are currently pursuing the best form of
therapy at this time.
 
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, DVM
 
URL of this post:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Health-list/message/13062
[Posted in FML issue 3780]