Dogs Can Smell Lung Cancer

Scientists hope to build 'electronic nose'
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 6, 2012 8:20 AM CST
Dogs Can Smell Lung Cancer
Dogs appear to be experts at detecting lung cancer.   (Shutterstock)

Dogs are lung cancer detection experts, a study finds. They "have no problem identifying tumor patients," says a researcher in Austria, and that could lead to earlier diagnoses. Dogs who smelled 120 breath samples were able to sniff out cancer 70% of the time, a very "encouraging" result, says the scientist. It confirms anecdotal accounts of dogs behaving differently near people with cancer, AFP notes. But don't expect your next doctor to be named Rover: Scientists hope they can figure out what scents the dogs are picking up and make an "electronic nose" that mimics the canine one. (More dogs stories.)

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