A French study has come out stating that dogs may be able to detect prostate cancer. I know, I know, I had the same first thought, too. No, that is not why they like to smell each other's butts and dogs don't get prostate cancer (as far as I know). In the study, the dogs were smelling the urine of men with and without the disease and were able to correctly identify the urine of the prostate cancer patients. In fact, the Belgian Malinois shepherd, normally a bomb sniffer, misidentified only three healthy men as having prostate cancer, out of 66 samples, but sniffed out every single prostate cancer patient in the trial group. Will this be the end of the PSA test?
The article states they are looking to expand into other diseases as well. Well, I am not sure we are ready for "bring your bitch to work day". That would be awkward. "Fido, bark once if you smell Gardnerella!" I think the researchers are just trying to work backwards to find what chemical gives off that smell to the dogs in those prostate cancer patients. Sounds interesting but not nearly as fun. "Bend over Mr. Johnson and let's give Rex a whiff."
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