We all know that dogs are awesome. And here’s another reason: in one UK hospital, they’re going to be used to sniff out cancer.
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A trial of whether dogs can smell if someone has cancer has been so successful that it’s being rolled out in the UK’s National Health Service.
Charity Medical Detection Dogs will begin introducing its specially trained dogs to patients at Milton Keynes Hospital after a study found the canines correctly detected prostate cancer in urine in 93% of cases.
The traditional Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test has a notoriously high “false positive,” meaning that many men have to undergo a painful biopsy.
Consultant urologist Mr Iqbal Anjum explained: “Over the years there have been many anecdotal reports suggesting that dogs may be able to detect cancer based on the tumour’s odour.”
“It is assumed that volatile molecules associated with the tumour would be released into the person’s urine, making samples easy to collect and test.”