Fangs a lot! Sick snake called Jodie Foster given human cancer therapy

A python named Jodie Foster has become the first snake known to receive electrochemotherapy, a cancer treatment normally used on humans, after vets at Chester Zoo battled a recurring jaw tumour. The 23-year-old reticulated python's growth, a malignant fibrosarcoma, returned after initial surgery in 2024 and began destroying part of her jawbone, prompting keepers to work with cancer specialists to adapt the human therapy for reptile use. The treatment's success matters beyond Jodie herself, as vets plan to publish details so the approach can benefit other animals in future.

During the 90-minute procedure, surgeons removed the tumour along with the diseased section of jaw before applying electrochemotherapy, which combines the drug bleomycin with electrical pulses that make cancer cells more permeable to the medication. Because of Jodie's size, staff had to push two operating tables together to create a surface large enough to hold her, and used heated blankets to maintain her body temperature throughout. A follow-up check this week found no sign the cancer had returned, and Jodie, who has lived at the zoo for 20 years, is now back in her habitat eating whole thawed chickens and behaving normally despite losing part of her jawbone.