Hi there Ken Nyren forwarded his email and the responses regarding lymphoma to me (I hope no one minds). I am giving a quick and dirty explaination here, but can give more details as needed and I can also fax the protocol to anyone's vet who is interested in trying it. It really does work. The protocol that I use is from Cornell, but I believe the Tufts protocol is the same. The initial treament is 31 wks total and if the ferret comes out of remission early then it is recommended to go 52 weeks total (I have not had to do this yet). Frequancy is weekly for the first 9wks then goes to every 2weeks and then every 3weeks. Unfortunately any ferret already receiving pred for insulinomas or for lymphoma without other chemo drugs will not respond well to any of the chemo drugs in the protocol. It can be tried but we most definately see very little to no response in the weasels already on the pred. Pred makes the lymphoma resistent to other chemo drugs. As far as the traditional thoughts of swollen belly and hair loss only being associated with adrenal disease, well we have all learned this and because I insist on an abdominal ultrasound on all ferrets showing these signs, prior to opening them up and removing an adrenal gland that may not need removing, I have found over the last 2yrs that 50% of all the cases are lymphoma ferrets. Lymphoma affects the endocrine system just as adrenal disease does and causes hair to be arrested and fall out. I really encourage ultrasounds to be done and not blindly going in to remove adrenals. I am hoping to publish an article soon showing these same facts and my experiences with chemo to help encourage more owners and vets to treat them and not allow these kids to die earlier and in a very uncomfortable manner than is necessary. Please feel free to email me or to call my office or have your vet call my office, I am only to happy to share my experiences in helping my weasel friends to feel better and live longer. I am also experimenting with chemo for adrenal tumors that can not be surgically taken care of. Lupron and melatonin only treat the symptoms and I am hoping to find a way to shrink the tumors in a non-surgical manner. Thank you for allowing me to help. Sandra M. Grant, DVM 919-829-5511 Lake Wheeler Veterinary Hospital [log in to unmask] [Posted in FML 5932]