Dogs To Sniff Out Cancer In NHS Trial
Dogs are to be used to sniff out cancer in a trial by the NHS to see if they are more reliable than traditional tests.
The specially trained animals will help to detect prostate cancer after a study showed they were able to spot the signs in 93% of cases.
The Medical Detection Dogs will work at Milton Keynes University Hospital where they will test urine to establish whether men should be referred for a biopsy.
The problem with the current Prostate-Specific Antigen Test is that it has a high rate of "false positives" and it is hoped the dog testing will end this problem.
The dogs, which take six months to train, sniff out "volatile molecules" – a sign of cancer – in the patient's urine.
Each sample is tested by two or three dogs and patients whose tests are positive
A consultant urologist at the hospital, Iqbal Anjum, said the study was "exciting".
He added: "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."
Medical Detection Dogs was co-founded in 2008 by Dr Claire Guest. A year later, her own dog, Daisy, detected she had breast cancer.
Daisy started prodding her chest and on further investigation she discovered a malign tumour, which could have been severe had it not been diagnosed so early.
Dr Guest said: "Britain has one of the worst rates of early cancer detection in Europe.
"The NHS needs to be bolder about introducing new innovative methods to detect cancer in its early stages.
"Our dogs have higher rates of reliability than most of the existing tests. We know their sense of smell is extraordinary.
“They can detect parts per trillion - that's the equivalent of one drop of blood in two Olympic-sized swimming pools.
"We should not be turning our backs on these highly sensitive bio-detectors just because they have furry coats."
Two charities, the Graham Fulford Charitable Trust and the Prostate Cancer Support Group, have said they are interested expanding the dog-testing service once the trial is complete.
Gary Steele, who founded the Prostate Cancer Support Group, said: "If they can prove in this study that dogs are reliable at detecting cancer, then we will have the evidence we need to offer sample screening by dogs as an optional test in our cancer clinic."
He said it was an opportunity to save thousands of lives.