TIL that dogs can be trained to smell cancer? Myth or fact?

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It is no secret that a dog can smell far better than any human ever can. Something very interesting that I came across is that dogs can actually be trained to smell cancer, and more specifically they can be trained to smell prostate and ovarian cancer through urine. Some studies have even confirmed that dogs can detect melanoma by just sniffing on skin lesions.

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Dogs are so amazing that they can even be trained to smell lung cancer by smelling a person’s breathe. This is an absolute game changing discovery because by training a couple dogs to do this we can actually help people to get treatment early with the first symptoms

This is not all positive news, because even if a dog can detect cancer early there is no way for them to let a person know in time. It also depends on the type of dog. Some dogs were 71% accurate while others only succeed 41% of the time. The most impressive was the dog that were 98% accurate when trained correctly.

Inaccuracy is a big problem, and part of the reason why ovarian cancer is so deadly, is that in about 75% of women, they only find the cancer when it is in stage 3 or 4. Which is very late to start with treatment.

Prostate cancer is just as deadly if not treated, the first two dogs to ever smell prostate cancer were two German shepherds and they were 97% to 99% correct when given urine samples of healthy men and men with prostate cancer.

In conclusion: You should treat your dog’s well and train them well too, a dog can be trained by a professional in just over 3 days to be able to smell cancer. The world is filled with many unknowns, but now that we know that your dog can not only love and care for you...but can literally save your life.

Here is a video that you might find interesting about this specific topic.