According to United States researchers, a dog has been used to sniff out thyroid cancer in people who had not yet been diagnosed. BBC noted that tests on 34 patients showed an 88 percent success rate in finding tumors.
The team of scientists presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society.
Thyroid cancer is a cancer originating from follicular or parafollicular thyroid cells. The Thyroid is a hormone-producing gland located in the neck. Thyroid plays a vital role in metabolism control. Thyroid tumors are quiet uncommon. According to The Monitor Daily, doctors usually diagnose Thyroid cancer by analyzing hormone levels in one's body or from cells extracted with the help of a needle.
Cancers are defective, out-of-control cells that release "volatile organic compounds" into the body and have their own unique chemistry. BBC noted that the canine approach relies on dogs having 10 times the number of smell receptor as compared to human and their ability to pick out the unique smells released by cancers.
Researchers said the trained dog accurately identified whether patients' urine sample had thyroid cancer or were benign (noncancerous) 82.2 percent of the time.
According to the study's senior investigator Donald Bodenner, chief of endocrine oncology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in U.S., current diagnostic procedures for thyroid cancer usually yields unclear results, leading to recurring medical procedures in addition to a large number of thyroid surgeries performed unnecessarily.
Bodenner added that scent-trained canines could be used by physicians in order to detect the presence of thyroid cancer at an early stage and avoid surgery when unwarranted. The same approach was successfully tested in bowel and lung cancer patients.
Scientists from the UAMS (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) had managed to train a dog into detecting the difference between urine samples belong to patients with and without thyroid cancer. What's left is using these resources and includes them as part of diagnostic testing.
According to The Monitor Daily, Frankie, the German Shepherd used in the study, was trained to lie down if it detected signs of thyroid cancer in the urine sample. Frankie would simply turn away from the sample if the test was negative.
In addition, the canine approach has also been used in order to detect the presence of dangerous infections bacteria like Clostridium difficile.
