Another sniffer dog for the clinic?

Church, John; Williams, Hywel C

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(01)06065-2

Cited by 101 publications

(55 citation statements)

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“…At the same time, the results of the study can be affected by, for example, the choice of the dog breed, due to the polymorphism of the scent receptors, which contribute to a large degree to the olfactory abilities of dogs (Lesniak et al 2008). Studies have been published describing the more or less accidental discovery of skin melanomas by pet dogs (Williams and Pembroke 1989;Church and Williams 2001). Subsequently, some authors examined the diagnosis of tumours of the bladder (Willis et al 2004), lungs and breast (McCulloch et al 2006), ovaries (Horvath et al 2008), colorectal carcinoma (Sonoda et al 2011), and prostate cancer (Cornu et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensive training technique utilizing the dog’s olfactory abilities to diagnose prostate cancer in men

et al. 2015

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Carcinoma of the prostate is a commonly occurring malignant tumour in men and is a common cause of death. Early diagnosis and therapy is crucial for the successful treatment of this serious disease. It is therefore desirable to develop a sufficiently reliable, minimally invasive, and inexpensive method of diagnosing prostate cancer, which would usefully supplement the diagnostic techniques currently in common use (digital rectal examination, measuring the prostate-specific antigen level in serum, transrectal ultrasonography). This article describes in detail the methodology of a new technique for intensive training aimed at developing the dog's olfactory abilities to diagnose carcinoma of the prostate in men while the animal is still young. At the same time, the rate of success in establishing the diagnosis of prostate cancer in men using this method was evaluated based on the identification of urine samples from patients in whom the disease was histologically confirmed. The results of our study demonstrate that the diagnosis of prostate cancer in men using the olfactory abilities of a specially trained dog can be considered a reliable, non-invasive, and relatively inexpensive method of diagnosing carcinoma of the prostate. Urology, tumour, prostate gland, auxiliary methods of examinationCarcinoma of the prostate is the most common non-cutaneous malignant tumour among men in a number of the world's developed countries and, after carcinoma of the lung, it is the most common solid tumour in the male population of the United States (Jemal et al. 2009). Despite the progressive development of diagnostic methods (Vyhnánková 2015) in the area of diagnosing cancer, this disease is still one of the major causes of death in humans. Early detection and prompt commencement of therapy are crucial for the successful treatment of carcinomas and an appropriate way of reducing the economic burden of treatment and the mortality of the disease (Sonoda et al. 2011). The basic diagnostic methods used to diagnose prostate cancer include digital rectal examination (DRE), measuring the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level in serum, and transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS) (Gerber and Chodak 1991). When patients are making decisions about undergoing preventative or early examination, the degree to which the procedure carried out is invasive and painful is quite important. It is therefore desirable to develop a method of diagnosing prostate cancer which is sufficiently reliable, but at the same time minimally invasive and not too expensive.In our study we focused on the development of diagnostics for prostate cancer in men from urine samples using the olfactory abilities of the dog. The aim of the study was to introduce a new technique for the intensive development of the dog's olfactory abilities to diagnose carcinoma of the prostate in men while the animal is young; to evaluate the success rate in establishing the diagnosis of prostate cancer in men on the basis of indicating urine

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensive training technique utilizing the dog’s olfactory abilities to diagnose prostate cancer in men

et al. 2015

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“…Every now and then, the medical community's attention is drawn to the phenomenon that dogs may detect cancer in patients [10,11]. Bearing in mind the limitations of the electronic nose, we became interested in this phenomenon.…”

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confidence: 99%

Canine scent detection in the diagnosis of lung cancer: revisiting a puzzling phenomenon

Ehmann

Boedeker²,

Friedrich³

et al. 2011

European Respiratory Journal

180

144

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Patient prognosis in lung cancer largely depends on early diagnosis. The exhaled breath of patients may represent the ideal specimen for future lung cancer screening. However, the clinical applicability of current diagnostic sensor technologies based on signal pattern analysis remains incalculable due to their inability to identify a clear target. To test the robustness of the presence of a so far unknown volatile organic compound in the breath of patients with lung cancer, sniffer dogs were applied.Exhalation samples of 220 volunteers (healthy individuals, confirmed lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)) were presented to sniffer dogs following a rigid scientific protocol. Patient history, drug administration and clinicopathological data were analysed to identify potential bias or confounders.Lung cancer was identified with an overall sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 93%. Lung cancer detection was independent from COPD and the presence of tobacco smoke and food odours. Logistic regression identified two drugs as potential confounders.It must be assumed that a robust and specific volatile organic compound (or pattern) is present in the breath of patients with lung cancer. Additional research efforts are required to overcome the current technical limitations of electronic sensor technologies to engineer a clinically applicable screening tool.

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“…Similar anecdotal reports have since appeared in newspapers and scientific journals. [8][9][10] More recently, Willis and colleagues 11 successfully trained 6 dogs of mixed breed to identify people with bladder cancer using a discrimination task. As a group, the dogs correctly identified urine samples from patients with bladder cancer on 22 of 54 occasions; a mean success rate of 41%.…”

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confidence: 99%

Canine Responses to Hypoglycemia in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes

Wells¹,

Lawson²,

Siriwardena³

2008

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

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Objective: Anecdotal evidence suggests that domestic dogs may be able to detect hypoglycemia in their human caregivers; scientific investigation of this phenomenon, however, is sorely lacking. This study thus aimed to investigate how pet dogs respond to the hypoglycemic episodes of their owners with type 1 diabetes. Methods: Two hundred and twelve dog owners (64.2% female) with medically diagnosed type 1 diabetes participated in the study. All participants owned at least 1 dog. Each person completed a purpose-designed questionnaire developed to collect information on their dogs' responses (if any) to their hypoglycemic episodes. Results: One hundred and thirty-eight (65.1%) respondents indicated that their dog had shown a behavioral reaction to at least one of their hypoglycemic episodes, with 31.9% of animals reacting to 11 or more events. Canine sex, age, breed status, and length of pet ownership were unrelated to hypoglycemia-response likelihood. Thirty-six percent of the sample believed that their dogs reacted most of the times they went "low"; 33.6% indicated that their pets reacted before they themselves were aware they were hypoglycemic. Dogs' behavioral responses to their owners' hypoglycemic episodes varied. Most animals behaved in a manner suggestive of attracting their owners' attention, for example, vocalizing (61.5%), licking them (49.2%), nuzzling them (40.6%), jumping on top of them (30.4%), and/or staring intently at their faces (41.3%). A smaller proportion showed behavioral responses suggestive of fear, including trembling (7.2%), running away from the owner (5.1%), and/or hyperventilating (2.2%). Conclusions:The findings suggest that behavioral reactions to hypoglycemic episodes in pet owners with type 1 diabetes commonly occur in untrained dogs. Further research is now needed to elucidate the mechanism(s) that dogs use to perform this feat. 1235

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Another sniffer dog for the clinic?

Cited by 101 publications

References 1 publication

Intensive training technique utilizing the dog’s olfactory abilities to diagnose prostate cancer in men

Intensive training technique utilizing the dog’s olfactory abilities to diagnose prostate cancer in men

Canine scent detection in the diagnosis of lung cancer: revisiting a puzzling phenomenon

Canine Responses to Hypoglycemia in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes

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