Study Finds Dogs Can Sniff Out Lung Cancer With Nearly 97% Accuracy
Friday, August 30, 2019 IST
Cancer is one of those deadly diseases which often goes unseen unless it goes to the middle or late stage. We are all aware as to how late-stage cancer can be destructive. The chances of survival are very low and people start praying for miracles. On top of all that, there is the immense cost that goes into treating cancer patients. However, all of it can be solved if one could detect cancer in any person from an early stage. That’s why many scientists are trying to use AI and other instruments which can help in the early detection of cancer cells.
However, a Florida startup has taken a different route. They have gone for low-cost live detector-dogs. They are trying to see if the sniffing ability of dogs can be used to detect cancer cells and surprisingly, they are getting positive results.
The study was presented by BioScentDx in Florida. The study was held for understanding the process of detection of cancer with the help of dogs, at Experimental Biology, a biomedical and life science research conference. A behavioral tactic known as clicker training was implemented to train 4 beagles to differentiate malignant lung cancer samples from healthy cells. While one of the beagles was not willing to engage in the study and stayed aloof, the other 3 was excited and started performing. And they did well too. They were able to detect the samples of lung cancer with an accuracy of about 96.7% and detecting the healthy specimens with an accuracy of about 97.5%.
Heather Junqueira, one of the researchers, has seen a lot of promise with this new discovery. She says that now cancer detection can be done in two ways using the ‘canine detection’ technique. One is by using dogs’ smelling capabilities as a screening method for detecting cancer. The other could be researching on how the cancer cells are being detected by canines, finding out what compound is responsible for it, and then extracting and using it to build cancer-screening tests.
Hopefully, this method can bring a lot of change in the cancer screening process and help save millions of lives in the near future.
Related Topics
Trending News & Articles
Lung cancer is usually not noticeable during the early stages. Most people are diagnosed when the disease is at an advanced stage. According to Cancer.org, it is ...
Recently posted . 9K views . 2 min read
The health benefits of wood apple include [1] relief from constipation, indigestion, peptic ulcer, piles, respiratory problems, diarrhea, and dysentery. It also b...
Recently posted . 6K views . 2 min read
Bael, also known as the “Wood Apple”, is a species native to India. The bael tree is considered to be sacred to the Hindus. A famous drink known as sh...
Recently posted . 6K views . 2 min read
The scientists likewise shared how much liquor an individual can drink prior to facing overabundance risk challenges their wellbeing, contrasted with somebody who...
Recently posted . 6K views . 1 min read
More in Food & Health
Sleep is not only a time when your body shuts off. While you sleep, your brain stays busy and prepares you for the following day.
Recently posted. 1K views . 0 min read
We’ve been reading and hearing about health fads that can prolong and better our live for quite sometime now. Mainstream media has been flooded with informa...
Recently posted. 958 views . 1 min read
Our bodies’ cells disintegrate and then recycle their own parts constantly. In 2016, Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi, from Japan, received the Nobel Prize in Physiolog...
Recently posted. 1K views . 3 min read
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 761 views
Recently posted . 2K views
Recently posted . 2K views . 109 min read
Recently posted . 2K views . 43 min read
Apples have a lot of health benefits like improving digestion, helping in weight loss, keeping the heart healthy, and may also help in warding off breast cancer. ...
Recently posted. 1K views . 1 min read
The yo-yo rise and fall of temperature during the change of season heightens the risk of flu. But there are many other causes — from breathing in recirculat...
Recently posted. 1K views . 1 min read