We all know dogs possess incredible powers of smell. Some have even received training to detect diseases like cancer and diabetes But how exactly are research facilities and healthcare organizations across the nation using this superpower? Cancer-detecting dogs and their handlers across the nation offer the lowdown on the most recent life-saving exploits of man’s best friend.
Cancerous cells produce a very specific odor. In fact, the disease can even be detected in its late stages by human noses. Even when the cancer is still “in situ,” or has not spread from the site where it first formed, dogs can detect this smell far earlier in the disease’s progression thanks to a sense of smell that researchers estimate is between 10,000 and 100,000 times superior to ours. And remarkably, they don’t need to smell the growth directly. Dogs can detect this scent on waste matter like breath.
That makes it much easier to train a dog to spot cancer. The first training regimen for cancer-detecting dogs was created by Dina Zaphiris, founder of the nonprofit In Situ Foundation. She now trains dog handlers from all over the world after having trained 52 dogs to detect cancer. The objective is to assist in disseminating this vital information to everyone who needs it.
Each In Situ dog receives training for up to eight months, sniffing blood, plasma, urine, and saliva samples sent to the foundation by doctors. Dogs can tell the difference between a healthy sample and one that contains cancer after smelling more than 300 different samples. They also learn to “generalize” the smell, which is the ability to apply what they have learned about the smell from tested samples to new, comparable samples.
Dina Zaphiris has trained dogs at In Situ to assist research teams at hospitals and universities, helping teams at Duke University and the University of California, Davis differentiate between cancerous samples and healthy samples. Now, In Situ is getting ready to launch the first-ever hospital-backed program to use canines that can detect cancer in the general public, providing early screening for California firefighters who are at a high risk of developing cancer due to all the toxins they are exposed to in fires, including California’s deadly wildfires.
In other places, cancer-detecting dogs are being trained to collect data for the development of a “mechanical nose”—a device that will detect odors similarly to a dog’s nose without the need to train multiple dogs or take into account the unpredictable nature of working with living things. The Penn Vet Working Dog Center is collaborating with a group of elite dogs like Osa (below) to quickly create a mechanical nose.
There is currently no screening method available for many cancers, so people don’t even know they have the disease until they start to exhibit symptoms. Furthermore, there is currently no effective early detection method for any type of cancer. This implies that in the not-too-distant future, whether it be a mechanical nose or a real, live four-legged friend, dogs’ noses will be saving thousands of lives.
Stewie, an Australian Shepherd who is ten years old, has been sniffing cancer samples since Dina Zaphiris was eight years old. She enjoys swimming and playing with Dina’s other Border Collie, Splitty, who is a year old. Stewie only performs tasks in a lab environment, just like all the dogs Zaphiris trains at In Situ. She visits the lab three days a week to rotate sample sniffing with her cancer-detecting canine partners. But she never has to wait long for her turn . In actuality, a dog can smell 10 samples in just 30 seconds. To Stewie and her fellow stablemates, the work is so enjoyable that it is like playing. When the day’s work is done, they constantly want to continue sniffing.
The Enloe Medical Center and Enloe Regional Cancer Center in Chico, where In Situ is based, support Yellow Labrador Retriever Enloe, another dog from the program. People in the Chico area follow Enloe’s training, making him something of a local celebrity. He has a strong desire for food and toys, which makes him an excellent cancer-detection dog because he is constantly eager to receive his reward. After a fun day of training to find cancer, Enloe can return every night to a loving family in the neighborhood.
The Penn Vet Working Dog Center’s cancer-detection program’s star is Osa. She began at the center as a puppy and tried every job that was offered to her there. Osa ultimately found her niche on the cancer-detection team. She fell in love with the job right away and always looked forward to training days. She now resides in New Jersey with her handler and attends two to three cancer detection sessions per week. Her trainer keeps her occupied and content the rest of the week with agility and obedience training, a fitness regimen, and live human searches. When Osa first enrolled in the Penn Vet program, she occasionally reacted negatively to people. But that’s all in the past now. Osa is now a happier, more self-assured, and more trusting dog as a result of her work as a cancer-detection dog.
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Can Dogs Really Detect Cancer in Humans?
As far back as 1989, according to Live Science, reports and stories of cancer-sniffing dogs have surfaced. In 2015, The Baltimore Sun reported that Heidi, a shepherd-lab mix, had sensed cancer in her owners lungs. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described Sierra, a husky who detected and alerted her owner of ovarian cancer on three separate occasions. And in September, the American Kennel Club reviewed the book “Doctor Dogs,” which shares stories of dogs detecting a host of diseases, including cancer.
According to Medical News Today, research indicates that, with training, dogs can detect a variety of cancers — even at early stages — in humans. “Like many other diseases, cancers leave specific traces, or odor signatures, in a persons body and bodily secretions. Cancer cells, or healthy cells affected by cancer, produce and release these odor signatures.” With proper training, dogs have been able to smell cancer in humans skin, breath, sweat and waste and to alert them.
Some dogs are capable of detecting cancer, but training is the most important factor. The nonprofit organization The In Situ Foundation is committed to doing just that: rescuing and teaching dogs to spot early-stage cancer in people. The organization “uses high drive breeds like German shepherds, Australian shepherds, shepherd/lab mixes, beagles, Belgian Malinois, and most mixed breeds containing any of these combinations.” We occasionally test a dog that is not one of these breeds and it detects cancer with great accuracy. The temperament and drive of the dog is what matters. “.
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Its no secret that dogs have incredibly sensitive noses. In fact, some scientists believe that dogs may have a sense of smell thats over 10,000 times as powerful as humans, according to PBS. That powerful sense of smell has enabled us to train and partner with dogs in finding missing persons, identifying drugs and explosives, and so much more. But can dogs smell cancer in humans?
Stories about dogs being able to detect cancer before even conventional cancer screenings have been around for a while. In this article, we’ll examine the science and behavior patterns behind cancer-sniffing dogs to find out if there’s any truth to that rumor or if it’s just folklore.
How Do Dogs Detect Cancer?
Experimental studies have demonstrated that trained cancer-detecting dogs were able to detect breast cancer and lung cancer by sniffing the patients’ breaths.
These studies also described how they distinguished between sick and healthy subjects using the biochemical variations in the subjects’ breath, which can be challenging for an untrained dog to do.
Additionally, reports from these studies revealed that dogs sniffing patient urine found prostate and bladder cancer, while sniffing tumor and blood samples revealed ovarian tumor.
Patients’ breath and poop samples were used to detect colorectal cancer, and biopsy samples were used to find cervical cancer in test subjects.
There are many dogs that can detect cancer, but dogs’ senses are not limited to this disease; they are also very good at detecting other illnesses.
Other illnesses besides cancer that dogs can detect early on include diabetes, malaria, and Parkinson’s disease – even years before symptoms appear!
FAQ
Is my dog trying to tell me I have cancer?
According to research, dogs can identify a variety of human cancers. Cancers leave distinct traces, or odor signatures, in a person’s body and bodily secretions, similar to many other diseases. These odor signatures are created and released by cancer cells or healthy cells that have been affected by cancer.
Can dogs sense of smell cancer?
Dogs Have A Stronger Sense Of Energy And Smell, Which Allows Them To Interpret Human Emotions Before Humans Do Dogs have a strong sense of energy and smell, which allows them to get the whole story from just a scent. In addition to these, they can also detect human illness and demise.
How do dogs act when they smell lung cancer?
Your dog might behave very differently from normal if it detects cancer. Some dogs will continually sniff you, and it might be difficult for you to move your dog away. Other people may lick or even bite at lesions on your body in an effort to treat your cancer.
Can an untrained dog smell illness?
In short, yes. Dogs are incredible beings, and one of their innumerable, priceless attributes is their olfactory senses (i.e., sense of smell). Compared to humans, a dog’s sense of smell is about 100,000 times stronger. Dogs are able to detect changes in human body chemistry when they are sick.