A python named Jodie Foster is now cancer free and back to her usual “bright and feisty self” after receiving a pioneering cancer treatment.
The 15-foot reticulated python is the first known snake to receive electrochemotherapy treatment, according to the Chester Zoo in England.
Chester Zoo in England said the python received the cancer treatment after a tumor returned and began invading its jawbone.
Jodie Foster, whose name originated from the initials “JF” on her paperwork to indicate “juvenile female,” was suffering from a malignant fibrosarcoma tumor in her jaw that had returned after it was surgically removed.
Veterinarians at the zoo said the tumor was destroying part of the 23-year-old python’s jawbone and determined that surgery on its own wasn’t going to be enough.
“We were facing the possibility of losing her as the tumor made it more and more difficult for her to eat, so we worked with cancer specialists to see whether we could adapt electrochemotherapy for a snake,” Ian Ashpole, veterinary officer at Chester Zoo, said in a statement.
The 90-minute procedure to try and save the python took place in October 2025. Veterinarians and caretakers at the zoo said they needed to improvise in order to be able to treat Jodie Foster because she’s so large.
The tumor and a diseased part of the python’s jawbone were removed during the procedure, then veterinarians administered the cancer treatment.
Electrochemotherapy combines the cancer drug bleomycin with a series of “carefully controlled electrical pulses delivered directly to the tumor site,” according to the news release. “The pulses temporarily make cancer cells more permeable, allowing the drug to enter more effectively. This means lower doses of chemotherapy can be used, often in a single procedure.”
The treatment was first used in humans in the 1990s and has been used to treat cancers in other animals, including dogs and cats.
Just a few months after receiving the treatment, Jodie Foster is again thriving, with no signs of the cancer returning during her latest veterinary check.
“Seeing her back to her normal bright and feisty self has been incredibly rewarding,” Ashpole said. “A few months ago, we genuinely didn’t know whether she’d survive. Now she’s eating normally, exploring her habitat and behaving exactly as we’d hope.”
