September 24, 2004, 07:49 AM
Dogs can detect cancer, study shows
Who woulda thunk it. Our canine companions, it would seem, possess the uncanny ability to detect cancer:
It has long been suspected that man's best friend has a special ability to sense when something is wrong with us. Now the first experiment to verify that scientifically has demonstrated that dogs are able to smell cancer.
Experts say it's unlikely that pooches will become practical partners in cancer detection any time soon, but the results of the study, outlined this week in the British Medical Journal, are promising.
They show that when urine from bladder cancer patients was set out among samples from healthy people or those with other diseases, the dogs — all ordinary pets — were able to identify the cancer patients' urine almost three times more often than would be expected by chance alone.
Yet another reason why I am definitely a dog person (Could a cat do this? Honestly!). I'm especially amazed by this little anecdote included within the article:
The idea that dogs may be able to smell cancer was first put forward in 1989 by two London dermatologists, who described the case of a woman asking for a mole to be cut out of her leg because her dog would constantly sniff at it, even through her trousers, but ignore all her other moles.
One day, the dog tried to bite the mole off when the woman was wearing shorts.
It turned out she had malignant melanoma — a deadly form of skin cancer. It was caught early enough to save her life.
Fantastic.
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