Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Lymphoid leukemia causing lethargy and weight loss in bearded dragons
By Hepps Keeney, Caitlin M et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2021·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Lymphoid leukemia in five bearded dragons ().
- Species:
- reptile
Plain-English summary
Five adult bearded dragons were brought to a veterinary clinic because they were lethargic, had poor appetites, watery eyes, and were losing weight. Tests showed they had very high levels of lymphocytes, indicating lymphocytic leukemia (a type of blood cancer). The dragons were treated with a combination of medications, including lomustine, prednisolone, and antibiotics, which led to partial improvement in all of them. One dragon continued to receive treatment and was still alive nearly 8 months later, while the others had varying survival times before they were euthanized due to disease progression.
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Abstract
CASE DESCRIPTION: 2 male and 3 female adult bearded dragons () were evaluated at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine's Exotic Animal Medicine Service between September 2018 and October 2019 because of severe lymphocytosis. CLINICAL FINDINGS: All 5 bearded dragons had nonspecific clinical signs, including lethargy, poor appetite, ocular discharge, and weight loss. Clinicopathologic testing revealed extremely high lymphocyte counts with morphological findings consistent with lymphocytic leukemia. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: All 5 patients were treated with lomustine, prednisolone, and antimicrobials. In addition, 1 or 2 doses of L-asparaginase were administered when the drug was available. Partial remission was achieved in all 5 patients. One patient, after disease progression was documented, was treated with cyclophosphamide and achieved a second partial remission. One of the 5 patients was still alive and continuing to receive chemotherapy at the time of final follow-up 244 days after the initial diagnosis. Survival times (ie, times from initial diagnosis to euthanasia) for the other 4 patients were 57, 157, 330, and 416 days. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The present report represented the first description of lomustine as a primary chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of lymphocytic leukemia in bearded dragons and provided information on response to treatment, adverse effects, and survival times.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33754817/