LONDON: A zoo in Britain hailed on Friday for curing a cancer-stricken python named after Hollywood star Jodie Foster, who became the first snake to receive an innovative treatment combining surgery and electrochemotherapy (ECT).

Chester Zoo, in north-western England, said the 4.5 metre (15-foot) reticulated python had fully recovered after first undergoing surgery and then receiving ECT following the return of a cancerous tumour in her jawbone.

Animals are increasingly being treated for cancer with drugs and therapies once only used on humans.

Other creatures, including a turtle and lizard, have had ECT treatment previously, according to case reports posted on medical science databases.

But Chester Zoo’s veterinary team, who worked alongside University of Liverpool cancer specialists to adapt the pioneering treatment, believe it is a first for a snake.

“We were facing the possibility of losing her as the tumour made it more and more difficult for her to eat,” Chester Zoo vet Ian Ashpole said in a press release.

“So we worked with cancer specialists to see whether we could adapt electrochemotherapy for a snake. As far as we’re aware, this is the first time it’s ever been used in one.”

Zookeepers first became concerned when 23-year-old Jodie, who has been at the zoo for two decades, began eating less and spending more time inactive in her habitat.

Bright and feisty

Tests confirmed a mali­gnant tumour in her jaw, which was removed through surgery. But it then returned, prompting another surgical procedure when ECT was also deployed to target any remaining cancerous cells.

Electrochemotherapy combines the use of cancer drug bleomycin with a series of electrical pulses directly on the tumour site which temporarily make cancer cells more permeable, allowing the drug to enter more effectively.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2026