Python first snake to receive electrochemotherapy for cancer
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- Chester Zoo's 15ft, 50kg reticulated python named Jodie Foster became the first snake to receive electrochemotherapy after a fibrosarcoma in her jaw returned and began invading her jawbone following initial surgical removal.
- Electrochemotherapy combines the cancer drug bleomycin with controlled electrical pulses that temporarily make cancer cells more permeable, allowing the drug to enter more effectively — the 90-minute procedure was administered by veterinary officer Ian Ashpole after Jodie was anaesthetised in her habitat.
- The procedure required two operating tables pushed together to create a double-bed-sized platform for the snake, who was carried from her enclosure to the zoo's veterinary centre.
- University of Liverpool's Jose Alvarez Picornell collaborated with Ashpole, calling the treatment's success "a testament to the power of collaboration" and announcing plans to formally publish details so veterinary colleagues worldwide can build on the approach.
- Months after the treatment, Jodie Foster is eating normally and striking, gripping, and swallowing prey without difficulty, with a final check this week confirming no signs of the cancer returning.
Why it matters: This is the first documented use of electrochemotherapy on a snake, and the Chester Zoo and University of Liverpool team plan to formally publish the protocol for veterinary peers worldwide — converting a one-off rescue into a reusable technique that could extend the lives of other large reptiles facing inoperable tumours.
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