Pig's treatment for lymphoma is a 1st
Source: Agencies |
July 26, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WHEN George Goldner went to feed his six pet pigs earlier this year, his 331-kilogram companion Nemo was acting strangely. Nemo had stopped eating and was lying in the mud.
So Goldner loaded Nemo into a trailer and drove two hours to Cornell University Hospital for Animals in Ithaca, New York. There he learned his four-year-old Hampshire pig had what vets believed was blood cancer B-cell lymphoma.
The hospital's researchers told Goldner they had never seen a pig treated for cancer. But that did not deter Goldner, a self-described animal lover, who asked vets to devise a way to treat his pig based on cancer in dogs and humans and not worry about costs.
Four months on, Nemo has made history as the first known pig to undergo lymphoma treatment - and successfully - leaving researchers with hope for advancements in treating cancer in large animals.
"Before, when large animals were diagnosed with cancer, it was pretty much impossible to treat them," said Nemo's managing veterinarian, Emily Barrell who picked and delivered the chemotherapy drugs. "Now we have a model to base it on."
Because pigs have necks bigger than many humans, their veins are difficult to access, Barrell said, making it impossible to deliver aggressive drugs needed for chemotherapy.
Staff at CUHA consulted with researchers in other fields before implanting a vascular access port - a small metal port with a silicone cover - under Nemo's skin behind his ear.
The port contained a catheter that ran through a jugular vein in his neck, allowing Nemo to receive cancer treatment administered to dogs and humans.
Nemo is now believed to be in remission, Barrell said, and will return home in September if all goes according to plan.
"There were two choices: One was to let him die and the other was to give it a shot," Goldner said. "Now I think (Nemo) is definitely bound to provide some help."
Nemo's appetite is back and he's treated like a "big star" at CUHA, Goldner said.
So Goldner loaded Nemo into a trailer and drove two hours to Cornell University Hospital for Animals in Ithaca, New York. There he learned his four-year-old Hampshire pig had what vets believed was blood cancer B-cell lymphoma.
The hospital's researchers told Goldner they had never seen a pig treated for cancer. But that did not deter Goldner, a self-described animal lover, who asked vets to devise a way to treat his pig based on cancer in dogs and humans and not worry about costs.
Four months on, Nemo has made history as the first known pig to undergo lymphoma treatment - and successfully - leaving researchers with hope for advancements in treating cancer in large animals.
"Before, when large animals were diagnosed with cancer, it was pretty much impossible to treat them," said Nemo's managing veterinarian, Emily Barrell who picked and delivered the chemotherapy drugs. "Now we have a model to base it on."
Because pigs have necks bigger than many humans, their veins are difficult to access, Barrell said, making it impossible to deliver aggressive drugs needed for chemotherapy.
Staff at CUHA consulted with researchers in other fields before implanting a vascular access port - a small metal port with a silicone cover - under Nemo's skin behind his ear.
The port contained a catheter that ran through a jugular vein in his neck, allowing Nemo to receive cancer treatment administered to dogs and humans.
Nemo is now believed to be in remission, Barrell said, and will return home in September if all goes according to plan.
"There were two choices: One was to let him die and the other was to give it a shot," Goldner said. "Now I think (Nemo) is definitely bound to provide some help."
Nemo's appetite is back and he's treated like a "big star" at CUHA, Goldner said.
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