Can Dogs Sniff Out Cancer?

Apparently yes, dogs can sniff out cancer and other medical conditions like low blood sugar, and an epileptic seizure about to happen.  Dogs have 25 times more smell receptors than humans, boosting their smelling ability by 100,000 times.  The brain of a human is dominated by the visual cortex, but the brain of a dogs is controlled by the smell or olfactory cortex.  In addition, the olfactory bulb in a dog has a large number of smell-sensitive receptors, which range between 125-220 million, and is a hundred thousand to a million times more reactive than that of humans.

So how do dogs sniff out cancer?  Cancerous cells release different metabolic waste products than healthy cells.  The difference in smell is so significant that dogs can detect it even in the early stages of cancer.  Some researchers have proven that dogs can detect prostate cancer by simply smelling patients' urine.  Dogs may also be able to sniff out the presence of cancerous cells through a human's breath.

So now that we know dogs can sniff out cancer, they must be trained to actively sniff out cancer.  In Berlin, a group of researchers trained some dogs to detect the presence of various types of cancer, including ovarian cancer.  This ability to detect cancer in the early stages has great potential benefits.  Dogs will become integrated directly into patient care.  For further information on this subject,  google some of the medical journals regarding "studies of dogs detecting cancer,"  and you will find lots of scientific evidence.  This is just another way that "man's best friend" is helping us all.