Dogs can Detect Cancer !!!

WOW! A Recent Scientific Study Proves that Dogs can Detect Cancer with Greater Accuracy than Mammograms.
by Armen T. Ghazarians

I had always known that dogs could detect cancer, but I had no idea that they could pinpoint lung and breast cancer with greater accuracy than any detection method currently available. A recent double blind control study by the Pine Street Foundation in a peer-reviewed journal describes the hypothesis and methodology behind this remarkable finding.

The hypothesis is that dogs can detect the different metablic products released by cancer cells even in the early stages of the disease.

Current techniques detect lung and breast cancer in the latent stages of the disease when it's too late to help patients. However, in this study, it was found that dogs could distinguish breath samples of the diseased patients from the breath samples of the normal (or control) patients with a 90% accuracy in the preliminary stages of cancer. And for the skeptics, there were over 12000 patients, which lends further credence to the results of this study.

The study used Labrador retrievers and Portuguese water dogs that ranged from ages 7-18 months. The dogs were household pets with some basic obedience training that were eager to sniff objects and respond to commands. The trainers used "clicker training" to teach the dogs scent detection (you can find several articles in the March 2006 archives of my blog for further information on clicker training).

What is important about this study is that (1) ordinary dogs can be quickly trained to pick out lung and breast cancer patients by smelling samples of their breath (2) dogs can accurately and reliably pinpoint the patients with cancer (3) the dog's performance is not affected by specific human behaviors such as eating and smoking.

The Pine Street Foundation may be recruiting dogs for a future study in the San Francisco Bay Area if they receive further funding. If you wish to explore this study in further detail or if you wish to offer the services of your dog as a detection candidate in their future studies, visit them at:
http://www.psmerg.org/articles/canine.html

An announcement will be made through their newsletter, if you sign up to receive their e-mail updates.

The article "Diagnostic Accuracy of Canine Scent Detection in Early and Late Stage Lung and Breast Cancers" can be accessed at no-charge for a limited time on the Integrative Cancer Therapies web site at http://ict.sagepub.com.