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Study finds dogs can smell cancer
AP ^ | Thursday, September 23, 2004

Posted on 09/24/2004 7:51:25 AM PDT by Area Freeper

We have always suspected that man's best friend has a special ability to sense when something is wrong with us, but the first experiment to verify that scientifically has demonstrated that dogs are able to smell cancer.

Experts say it is unlikely that pooches will become practical partners in cancer detection any time soon, but that the results of the study by English scientists are promising.

They showed that when urine from bladder cancer patients was set out among samples from healthy people or those with other diseases, the dogs -- ordinary pets -- were able to identify the cancer urine almost three times more often than would be expected by chance alone.

"The issue is not whether or not they can detect cancer, because clearly they can. The issue is whether you can set up a system whereby they can communicate with you. That requires further ingenuity," said Tim Cole, a professor of medical statistics at Imperial College in London, who was not connected with the research but is the owner of a labrador retriever.

David Neal, a bladder and prostate cancer surgeon at Cambridge University in England, said it was plausible that dogs might be able to pick up the scent of cancer because people with the disease shed unique abnormal proteins in their urine.

"I'm skeptical about whether it will be implementable, but scientifically it should be followed up," said Neal, a spokesman for Cancer Research UK, Britain's cancer society, who was not involved in the research.

"It might be that the dogs are better than our current machines at picking up abnormal proteins in the urine. What are the dogs picking up? Can we get a machine that does the same?"

A dog's sense of smell is generally 10,000 to 100,000 times better than a human's.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: cancer; dog; petscans
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1 posted on 09/24/2004 7:51:25 AM PDT by Area Freeper
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To: Area Freeper
I once worked in a hospital with a nurse who claimed to be able to smell cancer.

Of course, it was a psychiatric hospital.

2 posted on 09/24/2004 7:54:30 AM PDT by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: Area Freeper

It sounds promising, although I don't think that a Dog Scan will replace a Cat Scan in the forseeable future. (Insert rimshot here!)


3 posted on 09/24/2004 7:54:52 AM PDT by TruthShallSetYouFree
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To: Area Freeper

So much talent, and yet they spend most of their time sniffing each other's butts.


4 posted on 09/24/2004 7:56:10 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: TruthShallSetYouFree

Wow, check your prostate Jack!

5 posted on 09/24/2004 7:56:33 AM PDT by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: TruthShallSetYouFree

Cat Scan.


Dog Scan.

Just play it safe and have a PET Scan! < |:)~

6 posted on 09/24/2004 7:58:00 AM PDT by martin_fierro ('n'at.)
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To: Wolfie

Two guys walked past a dog who was happily licking his genitals.

"Damn, I wish I could do that!" said one fellow.
"Go ahead--he looks friendly!" was the reply.


7 posted on 09/24/2004 7:58:55 AM PDT by TruthShallSetYouFree
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To: Area Freeper

I remember hearing a story a few years ago about a woman whose dog kept licking the back of her leg. They found out the woman had cancer in that area.


8 posted on 09/24/2004 7:58:57 AM PDT by Conservativegreatgrandma
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To: Conservativegreatgrandma

Hmmm! Monica has been described as a dog. I wonder what that implies for Mr. Clinton.


9 posted on 09/24/2004 8:00:25 AM PDT by TruthShallSetYouFree
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To: billorites
I knew a woman years ago, who headed up some department at our local Health Department, who could smell cancer. She said it was a "sweet" smell. That might account for why a dog would want to "bite" a cancer off. I thought it strange at the time --

...once worked in a hospital with a nurse who claimed to be able to smell cancer.

10 posted on 09/24/2004 8:08:58 AM PDT by GOPJ (The effect of‘MSM bias’ is the Democratic party and the press sustain each other’s delusions. Steyn)
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To: billorites

One of my neighbors years ago was a nurse in a regular hospital. She said she could definnitely smell cancer. Odd.


11 posted on 09/24/2004 8:09:35 AM PDT by MizSterious (First, the journalists, THEN the lawyers.)
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To: Area Freeper

I wonder if it will replace pap smears. Oops, better not go there.


12 posted on 09/24/2004 8:14:54 AM PDT by SC DOC
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To: Area Freeper
Yes, but getting the $#@% poodle inside the patient, AND to get him to stop shedding once inside, is a medical problem they still haven't solved....
13 posted on 09/24/2004 8:16:07 AM PDT by Alex Murphy (Psalm 73)
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To: Area Freeper

The way they teach dogs to sniff for explosives might be used.


14 posted on 09/24/2004 8:27:32 AM PDT by ikka
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To: TruthShallSetYouFree

That is awful... LOL!


15 posted on 09/24/2004 8:32:07 AM PDT by RockinRight (W stands for whoop-a**!!!)
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To: billorites
Wow, check your prostate Jack!

Yes I hear you! Get away from me you lousy mutt!

16 posted on 09/24/2004 8:35:27 AM PDT by bjs1779
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To: Area Freeper

Fascinating.


17 posted on 09/24/2004 8:42:07 AM PDT by lilylangtree (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
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To: Area Freeper

So that's why dogs sniff your crotch - they're practicing medicine and checking you for cancer. Good puppy...


18 posted on 09/24/2004 9:03:48 AM PDT by trebb (Ain't God good . . .)
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To: Conservativegreatgrandma
True story. We'd do well not to ascribe human motives to dogs, but obviously something disturbed the animal, and he made his reaction clear to his owner repeatedly. Actually, next to language, the wheel and the alphabet, the domestication of the wolf stands among man's greatest inventions. Along with their obvious advantages, dogs can act as philosophical aids. If one is willing to be fully human, the dog can make him a better person.
19 posted on 09/24/2004 11:32:05 AM PDT by ashtanga
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To: Conservativegreatgrandma

I heard on the radio this morning that that story was one of the reasons for this study. The dog kept smelling at her moles and finally took a bite of one. Upon examination, the woman had mylenoma.


20 posted on 09/24/2004 11:52:26 AM PDT by twigs
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