Medical Dogs: Trained Cancer Sniffers (Part 1)

Over the centuries, dogs have been trained for many tasks. Native Americans used dogs to help them move their encampments. Arctic cultures trained dogs to pull sleds and to provide transportation. The military has trained war dogs since the 1940s. Specially trained dogs have become a staple of most police forces. There are dogs trained as helpers for the disabled and dogs trained specifically to provide friendship and comfort to the ill and infirm. Of course millions of dogs are trained every year simply to be good family companions and friends. Dogs are trained regularly for an amazing number of tasks, with new possibilities coming to our attention frequently. One such new application for trained dogs is assisting medical professionals in the diagnosis of cancer.

Researchers across the United States and Europe have discovered that the super-sensitive noses of dogs, which have more than forty times the number of smell receptors as the human nose and are believed to be several thousand times more powerful, might some day be able to serve as a great diagnostic device. Dogs are being trained to sniff out cancers and the results are amazing.

The strong sense of smell possessed by dogs has been used to human advantage for some time. Drug-sniffing dogs, for instance, have assisted in successful interdiction of countless tons of illicit narcotics. Bomb-sniffing dogs have been trained to sense the slightest presence of explosives. Now researchers believe that a dog can smell the difference between healthy human cells and those that are cancerous. The difference in smells between the two cell types is imperceptible for a human nose. Well-trained dogs, however, seem to be able to differentiate between the two.

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