Prostate cancer awareness month: British study training dogs to detect prostate cancer

Dogs are known to use their powerful sense of smell to detect bombs, drugs and other illegal substances or activities they are tasked to find. In a new British study, this unique ability has been put into medical use as dogs are trained to help detect prostate cancer, just in time for September's National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

NY City Today reports that Britain's National Health Service has allowed trial for dogs to sniff and smell out prostate cancer, since cancer is linked to producing volatile organic compounds because of malignant cells. Currently, experts use the PSA or prostate specific antigen as the gold standard for detection of prostate cancer among males. However, PSA can still produce false positive results, and the study hopes for the development of an improved detection method.

Dr. Claire Guest, co-founder of the charity Medical Detection Dogs who used canines to help detect different kinds of human diseases and have been training them since 2008, states that based on what they have, dogs are able to sniff ailments like epileptic seizures, other cancers and diabetes. This is possible due to the smelly compounds that are smelled by dogs through human breath and urine using their 300 million sensory receptors.

The charity gained approval from the Milton Keynes University Hospital after their trained dogs show 93 percent accurate detection of prostate tumors through the urine, The Globe and Mail writes. The canines underwent intensive training for six months. Once they detect cancer, the dogs either sit down, bark or lick the bottle, and they are rewarded with a treat.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men and is also the leading cause of cancer death. Researchers hope that if the dog sniffing will prove to be more reliable, it can eventually be a far more superior testing than the PSA test.

Men do not usually show any signs of prostate cancer but sometimes, difficulty or frequent urination, weak flow of urine and blood in urine or semen specimen can be symptoms, CDC shares. There is a bigger chance of getting prostate cancer if men reach age 50 or has a family history of the disease. Although not all experts believe getting screened can save someone from dying of this cancer, it is still important to get tested for early detection.