Mike VI, LSU’s live tiger mascot, was transported Saturday to the Mary Bird Perkins – Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center in Baton Rouge to begin radiation treatment for an “extremely rare” form of cancer.
Mike VI was diagnosed last Monday with spindle cell sarcoma, which is both inoperable and terminal, but “unlikely to spread to other areas of the body,” according to a university press release. The cancer was found in a tumor on the right side of his face, after his veterinarian and caretakers noticed swelling.
At the cancer center, doctors took CT images of Mike VI, which will help precisely target the tumor when they begin stereotactic radiotherapy, or SRT, on the tiger.