Our canine companions have some of the sharpest noses in the odor detection business. They can track down suspected criminals and people trapped beneath rubble and can sniff out drugs and explosives. And they can smell cancer?possibly even well before we know we are ill, some patients have claimed.
The possibility that dogs might be able to nose out malignant disease in humans was first raised in the late 1980s, in a paper describing an anecdotal account of a dog obsessed with a mole on its owner?s leg. The dog?s persistence was unusual enough that its owner decided to have the mole biopsied. It turned out to be positive for malignant melanoma.
Our canine companions have an amazing sense of smell, being able to sniff out everything from small game to human cancers. Credit: ? Sally Anne Thompson/Animal Photography
Since then, dogs have been shown in experimental studies to be able to detect melanoma and have been trained to identify patients with bladder cancer based on the smell of patients? urine. They also sniffed out cancers of the lung and breast and colon with a relatively high degree of accuracy and specificity.
Scientists suspect that this remarkable canine ability is associated with volatile chemicals linked to the presence of cancer in the human body. And it is thanks, in part, to man?s best friend that researchers now suspect that each type of cancer may have its own ?chemical signature??one that might even be detectable via a breath test.
Just this month, in fact, researchers reported promising results from preliminary trials of a breath test designed specifically for stomach cancer. The test, if approved for use clinically, could lead to earlier diagnosis of the disease and thereby improve treatment outcomes.
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