Dogs Can Detect Prostate Cancer
Prostate examinations are usually done by digital rectal examination. But now there is a new alternative, which is by using the assistance of specially trained dogs.
A Belgian Malinois Shepherd Dog which has a a sharp nose trained for a year by doctors from Tenon Hospital, Paris, France to distinguish the urine of men with prostate cancer and healthy men.
Dogs are animals that have a sense of smell 100,000 times sharper than human and prostate cancer cells is believed to have a special smell. Jean-Nicolas Cornu, chief researcher, says that dogs are able to identify the odor molecules produced by cancer cells.
In the study, the dogs ware able to identify correctly 63 of 66 urine samples from those who have cancer and those who are healthy.
Nevertheless, experts would not rush to conclude the ability of dogs to detect cancer, given the small scale of the study and further research is needed to prove it.
If later it is proved that a dog can detect accurately, experts believe this method will be more effective and accurate than blood tests to determine the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) which has been the standard examination for screening prostate cancer.
Tagged with: digital rectal examination, malinois shepherd, odor molecules, Prostate Cancer, prostate cancer cells, prostate examinations, Prostate Specific Antigen, shepherd dog,
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