Man's best friend: How dogs can be trained to sniff out cancer

Supernatural dog smells the human nose's ability to avoid detection of lung cancer can be used for early detection, according to new study. It can be relied on to show that the sniffer dogs is seven out of 10 sufferers of the disease is the first unique scent. 

Man's Best Friend: German shepherds and Labrador retrievers in a landmark German study were trained to detect lung cancer Schillerhoehe hospital in Germany with more practice researchers also believe that dogs can become better at picking up cancer cases. 

More than 39,000 lung cancer diagnosed annually, of which only 25 percent will survive a year with the UK's biggest cancer killer of cases because most disease is detected at an advanced stage when it is very difficult to treat . Early detection is often by chance, scientists from the patient for screening tests in the future use of exhaled breath samples have been working on. 

The breath that are linked to cancer in the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), but no reliable methods to detect the lung are specific efforts have been made. The latest study, German and Australian shepherd and a Labrador Retriever, a 11-week period identified VOC in the breath of patients were given special training to use, including the family dogs. 

Researchers in the early and advanced stages of lung cancer patients, including patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and healthy volunteers worked with 220 volunteers. Participants glass dogs breath smell tubes containing cotton impregnated with samples and were asked if they lie down with a lung cancer patient was diagnosed with a VOC. 

Successfully dogs out of a possible 100 samples identified 71 with lung cancer. He also correctly out of the 372 samples that showed a possible 400 had lung cancer. Dogs also COPD, drugs and tobacco smoke can detect lung cancer free, says a report in the European Respiratory Journal. Researchers say the findings for lung cancer confirmed the presence of a stable marker - but the snag is that they do not know what it is. can. "Our results for lung cancer confirm the presence of a stable marker. 

It is a major step forward in the diagnosis of lung cancer, but we still observed in exhaled breath of patients is needed to identify compounds. "It is unfortunate that the dogs can not communicate the biochemistry of the scent of cancer ' Thoracic surgeons and fellow researcher Enole Boedeker said the dogs 'play' and were very excited when they got it right was rewarded by treats. 

The cancer trainer would shout - "Go and off they went, sometimes directly and at other times to identify VOC far hesitated and then went back. He was around 11 weeks of training, but the more the better they seemed to think I can go higher rate of success. 

We need to check that she added a screening tool. Previously, research and anecdotal reports suggested the dogs - Labrador retrievers and Portuguese water dogs generally - bladder, skin, lung, breast and ovarian cancer can smell. Lung and breast cancer patients biochemical markers in their breath, which is that tumors exude tiny amounts of chemicals not found in healthy tssue can be traced to the pattern is to exhale. Trained dogs are raised, sniffing skin lesions, even domestic pets while their owners seek medical advice by raised the alarm with agitated behavior lead to melanoma skin cancer. The researchers acknowledge that the cost and time it takes to train them to use dogs in the clinical practice can be difficult.