Quezi

Dog nose (Photo by kalimistuk - CC-BY)

Apparently so! Dogs and their efficient sense of smell have been used to sniff out drugs, bombs, and find missing persons for many years. Now the medical community is recognizing the value of trained sniffer dogs in detecting minute differences in the scent of cancer patients.

Dogs do not have to be highly specialized to be helpful in cancer detection! In one study, ordinary household dogs were trained to detect the differences in breath samples between lung and breast cancer patients and healthy controls. Dogs with basic puppy training received additional training in scent detection over a two to three week period. The research study revealed an accuracy of response to the presence of cancer between 88% and 97%.

Similar research is currently being conducted by the Pine Street Foundation. Dogs are being trained to apply canine scent detection to breath samples in conjunction with ovarian cancer.

Dogs have also been trained to detect bladder cancer by sniffing the urine of affected patients. A study conducted at Amersham  Hospital showed positive results for detection of cancer at 41% accuracy compared to 14% expected by chance alone. Researchers conclude that dog are able to detect smells associated with tumors that are present in the urine of individuals with bladder cancer. It is theorized that cancer produces chemicals with distinctive odors.

Cancer and Bio-detection Dogs, a medical charity based in the UK, is working with medical researchers to train dogs to recognize the smell of cancer cells in both breath and urine. Dogs are also being trained to respond to the odor associated with blood sugar levels in diabetic patients.

A dog’s sense of smell has been described by James Walker of Florida State University’s Sensory Research Institute as approximately 10,000 to 100,000 times superior to that of humans! Researchers hope that utilizing a dog’s amazing olfactory ability to detect cancer might help patients avoid more invasive diagnostic techniques that often require a tissue sample. Information gleaned from these studies might also help in the invention of machines that will respond similarly to unique odors associated with the disease.

It appears we have another good reason to give dogs the title of “Man’s best friend!”