Dogs are truly incredible creatures–they bring comfort and happiness to a home, can be trained to provide essential services and rescues, and also have an amazing sense of smell. But this sensory talent is used for more than hunting and finding their food bowl – there are countless stories of dogs using their noses and other heightened senses to understand when a person is sick or dying. Because of these anecdotes, the question has been raised as to whether these amazing dogs have the capability to know when a person has cancer – simply by sense of smell.
Super Sniffers
A dog’s sense of smell is estimated to be about 10,000 times greater than our own — we cannot even imagine the world they experience through their olfactory system! All that extra sniffing power means they can gather a huge amount of information from things we cannot. They can tell how old a person or animal is, their biological sex, how stressed they are, or even whether a dog is dominant or submissive. They can also be taught to use their impressive noses for a variety of jobs.
K9 dogs detect minute traces of illegal drugs and gunpowder, while others play detective and can help find a missing person or body. Now, some amazing dogs are learning to alert doctors when patients have early-onset cancer and other diseases.
Disease Detectives
Most people don’t know that many diseases can cause patients to give off a unique smell as the disease develops. Some humans with sensitive noses have been able to use their abilities to detect Parkinson’s disease and other illnesses in patients. If people are able to smell diseases occasionally, it makes sense that dogs would be much better at accurately identifying illness, including cancer, at an early stage. Depending on the nature of the disease, it may be detected through breath, perspiration, urination, or blood. Dogs have identified people with Parkinson’s years before the disease even causes detectable symptoms, and have been able to accurately detect children infected with malaria just by smelling socks the kids wore while they slept for a night. The potential for dogs working in the medical field is endless, and detecting disease is just one area where we can put these pups and their super sniffers to work.
How is This Power Being Used for Cancer?
One study published last year by ScienceDaily found that dogs are 97% accurate in identifying patients with cancer just by smelling blood samples. The accuracy with which they are seemingly able to identify cancer may be cause for celebration in our battle against the disease. The quick, noninvasive procedure of taking a blood sample, along with the incredibly high rate of accuracy, mean that dogs could revolutionize cancer screenings as we know them. Dogs can be trained to quickly indicate when a person has cancer even before laboratory scans are able to detect it. Research has shown that different types of cancer produce different odor signatures, meaning dogs can be trained not only to detect cancer in general, but to identify specific types of cancer. For example, some dogs are being trained to smell lung cancer on a patient’s breath, while ovarian cancer can be detected through blood samples. Lung cancer, melanoma, and breast cancer have similar odor signatures, so a single dog can be easily trained to indicate the presence of all of them despite the odor presenting in differing media.
Using dogs for medical testing may seem a bit like science fiction, but definitely seems to hold promise. Given a canine’s ability to also lower anxiety in patients, these amazing dogs may well be a doctor’s best friend.
Gulf Coast K9 Dog Training celebrates all things dog – every day! We would love the opportunity to work with your dog for all your training and obedience needs. And don’t forget – we also offer puppy training and play care for proper socialization skills.
