Forget "roll over" or "shake." Researchers in Britain have shown Fido capable of a more significant trick: sniffing out cancer.
One of thegreatest challenges in treating cancer is detecting it early while there is still time to contain the growth and spread of malignant cells. By the time a patient feels serious symptoms, however, it is often too late. Routine X-rays are expensive, produce lots of false alarms, and create their own health risk. But even before you can feel cancer or see it, you might be able to smell it, says Carolyn Willis of Amersham Hospital in Buckinghamshire, England.
For years, some researchers have claimed that tumors produce organic compounds whose odors can be picked up by the highly attuned senses of dogs. In 1989 a report in the journal The Lancet described a woman whose dog wouldn’t stop sniffing her mole. The pooch’s persistence eventually compelled her to ...
