Cancer and Bio-detection Dogs

It is well known that dogs possess a highly developed sense of smell, which some estimates put as high as 100,000 times more sensitive than ours. This is largely attributable to anatomical differences within the nose and brain.

For centuries, man has made use of the scenting abilities of dogs to track people and animals. Today, dogs are used widely and successfully by police and customs services to detect drugs and explosives, and are increasingly being trained for other purposes such as detecting dry rot and gas leaks in buildings.

The training of dogs to recognise human cancer by its smell is in its infancy, but has the potential to make an important contribution in the field of cancer.