Can some animals smell cancer?

There’s a saying when it comes to cancer – early detection saves lives. Which is why many people around the world are trying their best to find new ways of detecting cancer. While human beings can’t smell cancer, some are suggesting that animals – from dogs to ants and even worms, may be able to. Let’s take a closer look: According to Healthline, diseases like cancer produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – which can be detected in bodily fluids, skin, and breath. Diseases can change the VOCs human beings emit, which results with those with cancer giving off a different odour, as per National Geographic. Dogs According to National Geographic, dogs can be taught to smell melanoma, breast and gastrointestinal cancers. Cynthia Otto, with the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, told the outlet dogs could either be figuring out “how the body is responding to the cancer cells.”

“Or it could be the cancer itself, we don’t know for sure,” Otto added.

Otto cited a 2022 ovarian cancer study in which “different dogs responded to different fragments.” HealthNews.com cited another study as showing that dogs could be trained to identify ovarian cancer from blood samples – including in patients’ months after treatment. One canine also managed to differentiate between the urine of cervical cancer patients from healthy individuals. The website cited a 2021 study which showed that a trained dog could identify urine and breath samples for patients suffering from lung cancer. The dog got 40 out of 41 samples correct. The website Healthline quoted a 2008 study as showing that dogs could distinguish types and grades of ovarian tumours against healthy samples. The canines were found to be extremely proficient in finding ovarian cancers in controlled experiments. Still, the authors remained sceptical when it came to using dogs in clinical practice – nothing the myriad influences that could affect the outcome. Ants According to National Geographic, Formica fusca – also known as the silky ant – can identify breast cancer from urine samples. The outlet quoted research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B as showing that ants can differentiate between urine from mice with human breast cancer tumours versus healthy mice. “We were surprised by the rapidity of ants. In just ten minutes one ant can be trained,” lead author Baptiste Piqueret told National Geographic. Piqueret, a post-doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany, added that these ants are inexpensive to get and maintain. Honey and dead insects, and ants are happy.” Study co-author Patrizia d’Ettorre, an ethologist at the Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, told the outlet, it isn’t known yet what chemicals the ants are smelling. Worms According to National Geographic, the Caenorhabditis elegans has also displayed a proclivity to detect cancer. A Japanese study showed the organisms found pancreatic cancer cells and an Italian study determined they recognised breast cancer cells. In both cases, the worms, under certain conditions moved towards samples with the cancer cells and avoided the healthy ones. As per the outlet, one Japanese biotech firm has even invited members of the public to send in their urine samples and get it tested by these worms. With inputs from agencies