In an unusual press release it has been shown that specially trained dogs are able to sniff patients and detect early stage lung cancer.
Much like specially trained drug dogs or the ones you see on TV hunter escape criminals or lost children, dogs have a nose so sensitive they are able to detect early stage lung cancer by sniffing the breath of patients. According to a German study, these specially trained dogs can identify volatile organic compounds that are linked to the presence of cancer.
In the study, scientists recruited people with lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and no health issues at all. Out of these subjects, the trained dogs were able to identify 71 out of 100 lung cancer samples, as well as 372 out of 400 samples with no cancer. Even more amazing was that these dogs were able to tell the difference between lung cancer, COPD and simple tobacco smoke.
Thorsten Walles, study author from Schillerhoehe Hospital in Germany told the European Lung Foundation that “the dogs’ keen sense of smell can detect this difference at an early stage of the disease” when referring to the different chemicals detected that identify normal breath from the breath of lung cancer patients.
This is a massive step forward in being able to identify and diagnose lung cancer in it’s earlier stages without the use of evasive instruments or measures. The earlier cancer can be identified in patients, the higher chance that the cancer can be treated and the patient survive. Some cancers offer very little hope when caught in their later stages so this type of research is critical when time is a major factor.
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