Who Let The Dogs Out?

Kongo
Kongo Member Posts: 1,166 Member
edited March 2014 in Prostate Cancer #1
I am not sure what to make of this. From urotoday.com

"Department of Urology, Tenon Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), University Paris VI, Paris, France.

Volatiles organic compounds (VOCs) in urine have been proposed as cancer biomarkers.

To evaluate the efficacy of prostate cancer (PCa) detection by trained dogs on human urine samples.

A Belgian Malinois shepherd was trained by the clicker training method (operant conditioning) to scent and recognize urine of people having PCa. All urine samples were frozen for preservation and heated to the same temperature for all tests. After a learning phase and a training period of 24 mo, the dog's ability to discriminate PCa and control urine was tested in a double-blind procedure. Urine was obtained from 66 patients referred to a urologist for elevated prostate-specific antigen or abnormal digital rectal examination. All patients underwent prostate biopsy and two groups were considered: 33 patients with cancer and 33 controls presenting negative biopsies.

During each "run," the dog was asked to signal a cancer urine among six samples containing only one cancer urine and five randomly selected controls. Sensitivity and specificity of the test were assessed.

The dog completed all the runs and correctly designated the cancer samples in 30 of 33 cases. Of the three cases wrongly classified as cancer, one patient was rebiopsied and a PCa was diagnosed. The sensitivity and specificity were both 91%.

This study shows that dogs can be trained to detect PCa by smelling urine with a significant success rate. It suggests that PCa gives an odor signature to urine. Identification of the VOCs involved could lead to a potentially useful screening tool for PCa.

Written by:
Cornu JN, Cancel-Tassin G, Ondet V, Girardet C, Cussenot O. Reference: Eur Urol. 2010 Oct 15. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2010.10.006

PubMed Abstract
PMID: 20970246"

Comments

  • steckley
    steckley Member Posts: 100
    #2
    VOCs
    If it is VOCs you'd think a PID (photo ionization detector) might be used to detect the VOCs .... maybe not as well as a dog ... why not just use dogs .... they're easier to calbrate.
  • Will_10_2010
    Will_10_2010 Member Posts: 43
    #3
    Dogs in medicine
    Amazing stuff. Last night on TV they showed a young girl about 3 years old with diabetes. A dog had been trained to alert her parents when her blood sugar was low by sniffing her breath. Everyday brings a new discovery.
  • mrspjd
    mrspjd Member Posts: 694 Member
    #4
    makes sense -- or scents ;)
    The sniffing ability of dogs used for bomb & drug detection, etc. makes sense, so why not for cancer properties/scent?
  • ProfWagstaff
    ProfWagstaff Member Posts: 106 Member
    #5
    I Just Have to Ask...
    ...so is my neighbor's dog checking me for recurrence of my cancer? I thought he was just impolitely sniffing my "naughty bits." Seriously though, I had heard of dogs detecting other cancers and even the oncoming of epileptic seizures in their masters. If they can detect PCa, that could become another weapon in the detection arsenal. We can use all the detection tools we can get. I guess these things really are man's best friend. Thanks for posting this, Kongo.
  • VascodaGama
    VascodaGama Member Posts: 3,707 Member
    #6
    ProfWagstaff said:

    I Just Have to Ask...
    ...so is my neighbor's dog checking me for recurrence of my cancer? I thought he was just impolitely sniffing my "naughty bits." Seriously though, I had heard of dogs detecting other cancers and even the oncoming of epileptic seizures in their masters. If they can detect PCa, that could become another weapon in the detection arsenal. We can use all the detection tools we can get. I guess these things really are man's best friend. Thanks for posting this, Kongo.

    I recall in the Philippines
    I recall in the Philippines seeing a “Curandero” (a healer) using a dog to find the maladies in his patients. What stroked me most was the number of people queuing up at his door steps waiting for a consultation. His dog was fully trained for sure.
    VGama
  • VascodaGama
    VascodaGama Member Posts: 3,707 Member
    #7
    ProfWagstaff said:

    I Just Have to Ask...
    ...so is my neighbor's dog checking me for recurrence of my cancer? I thought he was just impolitely sniffing my "naughty bits." Seriously though, I had heard of dogs detecting other cancers and even the oncoming of epileptic seizures in their masters. If they can detect PCa, that could become another weapon in the detection arsenal. We can use all the detection tools we can get. I guess these things really are man's best friend. Thanks for posting this, Kongo.

    I recall in the Philippines
    I recall in the Philippines seeing a “Curandero” (a healer) using a dog to find the maladies in his patients. What stroked me most was the number of people queuing up at his door steps waiting for a consultation. His dog was fully trained for sure.
    VGama

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