The Use of Cryosurgery in a Diamond Python, Morelia spilota spilota, with Fibrosarcoma and Radiotherapy in a Common Death Adder, Acanthophis antarcticus, with Melanoma
Assoc Reptilian Amphibian Vet 7[3]:9-12 Winter'97 Case Report 15 Refs

- Neoplasia is well documented in reptiles, primarily from a perspective of comparative pathology. Where it has been undertaken, treatment has usually been limited to surgical excision. Adjunctive therapies may improve cure rates and survival times in reptiles with cancer. Treatment protocols for specific types of neoplasia can be extrapolated from mammalian counterparts, bearing in mind that neoplasia in ectotherms may not respond to antineoplastic therapies as in mammals. The most likely appropriate treatment for oral fibrosarcoma in reptiles is early diagnosis and prompt, wide surgical excision. Cryotherapy may have a role where radical surgeries are unfeasible and palliation is the objective. Similarly, early detection and wide surgical excision are likely to yield the best prognosis in the management of reptilian melanoma. Further studies are needed to demonstrate the benefits of radiotherapy as adjunct therapy for incompletely resected melanomas in reptiles. It seems likely, however, that techniques that deliver higher doses of radiation are more appropriate for the management of reptilian neoplasia. Two reports of the use of radiation therapy in snakes are available (Robinson, et al, 1978, Leach, 1991). A report describing photodynamic therapy of 15 cases of neoplasia in felines, canines and snakes noted good therapeutic results in the three treated snakes (Roberts, et al, 1991). This paper describes the combination of surgery and cryosurgery in a snake with fibrosarcoma and surgery and radiotherapy in a snake with melanoma at Taronga Zoo, Sydney, Australia.