Dogs Help Save People With Cancer

There are more and more stories about dogs that have the ability to save their owners or people they meet by chance from cancer. In this article we will explain  why dogs can detect the presence of diseases and how to pay attention to them. 

Ted, the dog who “smelled” his owner’s cancer

We know that animals would give their lives for us. There are many cases of dogs saving people from fires and floods. Those who find abandoned children or who attack a criminal to thwart a robbery. However, it still sounds very strange to us that a dog has the ability to warn its owner that he is suffering from a disease.

You will love this story and it will make you understand why dogs are considered man’s best friend. Ted is a Border collie and has lived in Stockton (England) since Josie Conlan, a 46-year-old woman, adopted him. The dog was mistreated as a child and is therefore grumpy and shy.

Josie had small lumps in her breasts which she didn’t care about as they didn’t bother her. One day, however, Ted’s behavior changed. He couldn’t stop smelling her there and barking loudly. So Josie decided to get examined. She later found out she had breast cancer. Having been spotted in time, they were able to remove it immediately.

According to the woman, Ted is the best gift life has given her and her family (she is married and has two daughters). The dog thanks them every day for saving him, and for this he saved her from this disease.

Other cases of dogs that have smelled cancer

Ted isn’t the only animal who has spotted something abnormal inside his owner’s body. In 1989 a lady went to King’s College Hospital in London asking to have a mole analyzed in her foot and that her dog could not stop smelling. It turned out to be an early stage malignant melanoma that was exported without complications. 

Claire Guest was 45 when her dog, a Labrador fox red, found out she had breast cancer. He stared at her and then launched himself over her chest. This fact convinced her to be examined and to discover that she had a small lump.

Given the success of these cases, a group of doctors (including veterinarians) decided to train two dogs to smell people and determine if they have cancer. Here’s how Charlie (a German Shepherd) and Alfie (a Labradoodle) became two Californian experts in recognizing disease through smells. 

Dogs that detect cancer

Dogs have more than 220 million olfactory receptors in their noses (people only have 5 million). For this reason, they are able to perceive odors up to 100 times more than men. And that’s also why Alfie and Charlie are trained to detect two types of cancer: ovarian and breast. The nose of both is able to smell the specific molecular compound of the disease. Although it has not been identified by scientists, animals recognize it without problems.

In England, too, there is a group of scientists and doctors who are training a dog. They do this by trying to get him to identify the volatile and organic chemicals found in people with this disease. In the case of prostate cancer, the animal has to smell the urine of the patients. In that of the intestine, it has to do the same with the feces and in that of the lung, it has to do it with the breath.  

According to the British Medical Journal, the Labrador dog that participated in the experiment was 95% accurate in smelling their breath, and 98% accurate in smelling urine and feces. All patients had cancer in its early stage.

Source of the featured image: www.abc.es