Dogs can smell cancer?

[bascule]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/conditions/02/06/cohen.dogcancerdetect/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

 

The researchers then arranged four healthy and one cancer sample in a line, and the dogs picked out the cancer with amazing accuracy: 88 percent with the breast cancer samples, and 99 percent with lung cancers.

 

Wow...

[DV8 2XL]

I remember reading of some research years ago on this --- seems its still got legs.

[zyncod]

Yeah, the way that they talk about the 99% correct test does not seem controlled very well. They keep reusing the same tissue sample. Also, it would be interesting to see if dogs are smelling just quickly dividing tissue. That is, would they be equally as interested in pregnant women?

[ScienceFreak]

hmmm...

[herpguy]

They keep reusing the same tissue sample.

Does it say that in the article? Anyway, I watched a show about it on Animal Planet, it said they bring in new tissue samples a lot. There was also an interesting story; a dog trained to find cancer started to act wierd when a person with lung cancer was introduced to the dog. The woman became worried (the dog never acted like that before). So she went to the hospital to make sure she didn't have any form of cancer. But she did. It was then fixed before it became a problem.

Coincidence, maybe, but then again, maybe not.

[Crejin]

Some animals have a few better senses then other living creatures. A dog's smell is better then those of a human, or other creatures. So, it's no suprised they could sniff out cancer.

[herpguy]

A dog's smell is better then those of a human, or other creatures. So, it's no suprised they could sniff out cancer.

 

I think a dogs sense of smell is 100 times better than ours, so I agree with Crejin.

[JustStuit]

But what would and why would cancer smell seems to be the bigger questions. Their sense of smell is well established.

[navynuke]

As I understand this, most dogs could detect cancer, but have to be trained to indicate such to the dog's handlers. Just as when they are trained to detect drugs, they have to be taught what smells are of interest to us humans. First I heard of this was a long time ago, when a dog kept sniffing a spot on a woman's leg and just wouldn't leave it alone. So she said something to her doctor, and they determined that it was a cancer. Fast forward to today, and we actually have dogs being trained to sniff out cancer.

There are also new tests being developed based on the chemicals that a given type of cancer produces in the body. A profile of unusual chemicals in our blood can be an indicator that is far more reliable than current tests. I believe that prostate cancer is one of the first being considered for this kind of test. So it appears that dogs can sniff out those chemicals as well.

[herpguy]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10822627/from/RSS/

 

Another article about it. Basically the same as the one bascule posted.

[nan-o-nan]

I found this forum because my beagle kept digging and trying to chew through my pant legs at a spot on my leg! I pulled my pant leg up and I have a little "spot" that she tried to chew off.....I guess I need to go to the doctor. She absolutely went nuts even smelling it through my pants!