Canine cancer detection

Canine cancer detection is an approach to cancer screening that relies upon the olfactory ability of dogs to detect very low concentrations of the alkanes and aromatic compounds generated by tumors.

Research
Although the first suggestion of this approach in a medical journal dates back to 1989, there were only occasional publications on the subject in the next decade.

However, two studies (one published in 2004 and one in 2006) had promising results, with the 2006 report claiming a 99 percent accuracy in detecting lung cancer, although both studies were preliminary and involved small numbers of patients.

Uses
There are two proposed benefits, assuming that further studies corroborate the initial results.


 * Some researchers believe that dogs will become integrated directly into patient care, akin to their use in detecting bombs, drugs, and missing people.


 * Others recommend that the skill of dogs in detecting cancer would be more appropriately confined to labs, where gas chromatographs could be used to isolate which specific compounds the dogs identified. Recent developments include a simple breathalyser which changes colour according to the compounds in the breath, indicating the presence of cancer.