Can your dog detect cancer?

Dogs can detect cancer in some cases, thanks to their extremely sensitive sense of smell. Dogs have about 300 million scent receptors, compared to about 5 million in humans, which allows them to pick up very subtle odors given off by the human body.

This ability is used in research and training to train dogs to detect cancer using scent samples such as breath, urine, sweat or blood.

Cancer cells and the processes associated with cancer can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals that are excreted from the body in breath, urine or sweat. Trained dogs can be taught to recognize these substances. Some research suggests that dogs can detect certain types of cancer, such as lung, breast, bladder and ovarian cancer, with a high degree of accuracy, often even in early stages.

While these results are impressive, it is important to emphasize that canine cancer detection is still in the experimental phase. It is not a standard diagnostic method in clinical practice. Dogs can be effective in controlled settings, but much more research is needed to make this method consistent and reliable enough for widespread use.

The dogs that can do this are specially trained for this. Your own pet has not undergone this training and is therefore not a reliable method for detecting cancer. Regular detection by a doctor is still recommended.

Source: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1534735405285096

Author: Prof. Dr. Dirk Devroey - Latest update: 2024-10-24 - Copyright: Clinifacts 2024