Dr. Mike Dutton, Weare Animal Hospital in Weare, NH is looking for people
with insulinomic ferrets willing to take part in a chemotherapy trial.  He
has asked me to canvas the ferret community for interested parties.  In the
letter he states (reprinted, in part, with permission):
 
"Currently, there is no cure for insulinoma.  And the current therapy of
surgery and other medications to raise blood sugar, on average, only
extends life 1 and 1/2 years.
 
Because of how the disease progresses in ferrets, chemotherapy and its
ability to get all the microscopic tumors appears to be a preferred way of
dealing with insulinoma.  Research is limited in chemotherapy for ferret
insulinoma.  Investigational trials using human based chemotherapy have
proved unsuccessful to date.  Drugs used for human insulinoma cancers
caused acute kidney failure in the few cases where it has been tried in
ferrets.
 
Recently, as drug has been shown to be of some benefit for humans with
malignant insulinomas.  This is the same drug that has been used
extensively in ferrets for other cancers and has a wide margin of safety.
Articles that discuss insulinomas remark how this drug should be
investigated for ferret insulinoma, but to date no trial has been done."
 
Dr. Dutton would like to begin such a trial.  The treatment would entail 5
visits.  The first would establish baseline blood work values.  The next
four visits would be at three week intervals for the intravenous injection
of the drug and to recheck blood glucose levels.  The injection will
require anesthesia to ensure that the drug is injected into the vein.  The
visits should require about 30 minutes each.
 
If the ferret responds positively, he will continue the blood sugar
rechecks monthly for six months.  If the ferret does not respond, a
decision will be made on whether to discontinue the treatment and suggest
returning to the current therapy of surgery and medications.
 
The cost of the trials will be shared between the ferret owners and Dr.
Dutton.  Such trials are expensive.  The present estimate is about $550 per
ferret but may decrease if we can get donations for the study.  So if you
don't have a qualifying ferret (see below for requirements) but you can
afford to donate to the study, please make donations directly to:
 
Weare Animal Hospital
91 North Stark Highway (Route 114)
Weare,  NH  03281
 
Mark the donations to the Ferret Insulinoma Study.
 
Qualifications:
To make the study statistically valid he is looking for ferrets whose ONLY
problem is an insulinoma.  Concurrent diseases such as heart problems,
gastrointestinal disease or adrenal disease would disqualify the ferret
from the study.
 
If you feel that your ferret is a candidate, and you can make the 5 office
visits on the specific trial dates, please telephone the Hospital at
603-529-4999.  Your first office visit will include an examination, blood
sugar level, and chest x-ray.  This initial visit will be $74.  If your
ferret is an acceptable candidate, they will be enrolled in the study.
 
Please remember that this is a trial.  There is no guarantee as to the
results.  It may cure the disease, or it may be ineffective, or it may
cause unforeseen problems.  If it is effective, it may finally give us a
cure for this horrible and widespread disease.
 
Dick B.
[Posted in FML issue 3041]