In the novel, “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein, Enzo the main character in the story who just happens to be a dog, detects cancer on the breath of his mistress, well before she is diagnosed. This reminded me of the research that has been done in this field.

Because a dog’s sense of smell is generally 10,000 to 100,000 times better than that of people, they detect the different odor emitted by the waste products of cancer cells. In one study in 2006, the dogs were able to detect 99% of the time, lung cancer samples and breast cancer samples 88% of the time. After a Google search, I wasn’t able to find any current research in this area except for a proof of concept study that an electronic nose developed for an air quality use might be used to detect cancer. What’s the point of this however when dogs are already able to do this?

Check out this video to watch cancer detecting dogs in action.