These Studies about Dogs being able to Scent Cancer

[Mike 03]

This is so fascinating to me. I just was wondering if anyone here has had the experience of having your dog pay particular attention to some part of your body, and it turned out that you had a lump, or an enlarged lymph node, or some indication that you had an illness?

The most interesting aspect of this ability dogs have, to me, is that dogs that have not been trained at all seem to be able to do this.

Cancer must smell really bad.

Anybody have any experience to share?

Should we be nervous when a dog seems to pay particular attention to smelling some part of our bodies?

This is a strange inquiry, I know. But we are living in strange times.

:shrug:

[ColbertWatcher]

1. Not so much bad as distinctive.

As long as this has been going on, I'm surprised no one has created some kind of machine that can do it too.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Dunno Mike... but taking it a step further... many dogs should have

cancer of the hind quarters.... one would think.

[monmouth]

3. I have heard this too, and yes, cancer does have a bad odor, especially

when in its terminal stages...

[Jane Austin]

4. I haven't had cancer so far, but I have plenty of friends whose

dogs zeroed in on their cancers and wouldn't let it go until they got it treated.

When our Romeo was recovering from a brain tumor, our other dogs kept sniffing along his back and chest area.

We went over to Texas A&M several times to see what else was going on in there. I suspected Hemangiosarcoma, which seems to be the biggest killer of dogs these days.

He died six months after his brain surgery and the necropsy showed a "ginormous blood clot" to his lung as his cause of death.

I've always wondered if the other dogs had located the clot before it broke loose and killed him.

[KT2000]

5. Know of a woman who

insisted her husband go to the doctor because he smelled different to her. Turned out he had cancer.

Had a cat that would stick her nose up my nostril to check me out every day. She started this after an accident that exposed me to loads of toxic chemicals. I did develop permanent changes to the inside of my nose, eye and sinuses. I expect to have cancer there one day.
My cat has died and the new cat is just not that interested in me so I guess I will have to depend on doctors.

[Winterblues]

6. I must have cancer of the crouch..

Seems dogs are always sniffing that part of me..

[cobalt1999]

11. I must have cancer every time I'm grilling

Luckily, it seems to go into remission every time I give them a bone.

[undeterred]

7. A woman who had ovarian cancer told me

she had 2 main symptoms: pain during intercourse, and her dog started sniffing her crotch- which it had never done before. It might be a specific protein being produced that the dog is able to detect because of its extremely sensitive nose.

[Motown_Johnny]

8. The dogs are trained to find cancer, I don't think they just do it by themselves

there have been shows on cable (Discovery channel??) about it. I am pretty sure you need to train the dogs to do it.

[Muttocracy]

10. oops- my reply was meant to go here - yes, they train them, but they do it on their own too:

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/cancer-detecting-canines/page1.aspx

[Muttocracy]

9. National Geographic article on it:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/01/0112_060112_dog_cancer.html

and another:
http://www.petplace.com/dogs/cancer-detecting-canines/page1.aspx

[rug]

12. My dog must have testicular cancer.