Can dogs scent cancer?

[lurker]

I'll bet they can..

Steve Werner suspected his health was in trouble even before his golden retriever, Wrigley, started sniffing around. His symptoms were vague back in June -- occasional ringing in his ears, a general feeling of unease. His doctor couldn't pinpoint a problem. Tests came back negative.

Then in July, Wrigley started to behave strangely.

Every day when Werner would curl up next to his beloved canine at his Brentwood, Mo., home, she would turn, focus on his right ear and sniff.

"I thought it was just a friendly sniff," Werner said. "But after four or five days, I realized she seemed to be focusing on something. At some point, I noticed she was always sniffing at the opening of my right ear."

One day, Werner was watching TV when a feature about cancer-sniffing dogs grabbed his attention. What he heard propelled him back to his doctor's office.

An MRI revealed a brain tumor the size of a Ping-Pong ball that had spread into the inner canal of Werner's right ear -- the very ear Wrigley had been sniffing.

Werner, 40, had a rare nonmalignant tumor called acoustic schwannoma. If not caught in time, it could have caused a stroke or permanent facial paralysis.

He had surgery in Los Angeles in February to remove it and has been recuperating at home.

Because of their keen sense of smell, canines have long been used to sniff out guns, bombs, cadavers and illegal drugs, among other things.

Dogs also have been trained in medical settings to detect impending epileptic seizures or identify tuberculosis in undiagnosed patients.

Now, researchers are studying the effectiveness of dogs in detecting cancer.


snip...

At one time doGs were credited with the ability to detect 28,000 different scents.

The rest of the report:
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/living/14629635.htm

[Flying Dutchman]

There was one guy, can't recall his name, but he trained certain dogs to sniff out cancer. He kept getting debunked by the scientific community because they said the dog(s) would "point out" areas that had no cancer. It was later found out the dogs did properly point cancer out, it was just to minute to register. It turned out they were sniffing out cancer cells that had not even began to grow yet.

[dodgehighforeve]

I remember seeing a thing, on discovery I think, about 2 years ago, that there was some clinic, that was using dogs to detect prostate cancer. Had a very good detection rate, if i remember right. There's a reason that the dog is man's best friend, even you lurker.

[Highwayman]

Originally Posted by dodgehighforeve

....using dogs to detect prostate cancer.

Oh my doG! I just got a visual of that!

[Zeb]

Hyway beat me to it

[K C Muffin]

My thoughts exactly....

Up out of the gutter now.......I'd heard this same story. I think it's wonderful. But after my doggy goes to Oklahoma, there won't be another. I don't have time and I don't want to have to be home at a certain time or expect a mess on the carpet. Then again, my M-I-L had a dog up until a few months ago and she had to have him put to sleep. Since then, she's been in declining health. Maybe it's just as simple as she misses her companion. Then again, maybe not.

[TexKan]

I have seen quite a few documentaries on this. Used to be about chihuahuas and asthma. Thier affect on asthmatics I have seem first hand. They develop the asthma and the owner improves. Oddly enough the dogs live a long time - with the asthma.

I also saw a piece on some research they did with a retriever. They swear that the dog can smell the cancer. I would believe that - the research seems to support it and the dogs owner is certainly convinced. Animal kingdom certainly is a wonderous place.

Sorry to hear of your MIL but that is common. Loss of loved ones often is all it takes - even if it is a long time animal companion. They say when a spouse dies and the union has been a long one, the spouse left behind will go in 18 months IF they are gonna go. Otherwise they have a really good chance of long term survival after that 12 - 18 months. Loss is life threatening - especially in the elderly.

[Made in the USA]

I gotta PussyCat, kinda like Texie, only not yeller! Sometimes I swear he is half dog, cause he minds better than any dog I ever had. keeps all the vermin off the farm.

[K C Muffin]

ya know, mitUSA, if he's a farm animal, he might very well be cat-dog. That'd be funny. See if you can get him on David Letterman. Make some money - you've obviously trained him well!