Dogs that sniff out prostate cancer
They detect tumours with 93% accuracy
HOW much would you pay someone to save your life? These dogs don’t want much. In fact, a biscuit should cover it.
The remarkable animals are being used to diagnose prostate cancer in a landmark trial which could ultimately prevent many deaths.
They have been specially trained to detect tumours to an accuracy rate of 93 per cent – far higher than current testing methods. If the trial is deemed a success, then so- called canine screening will be available to men for free in at least two locations in England within three years.
It involves nine dogs including six labradors, two spaniels and a Hungarian vizsla who have had six months’ training to detect cancerous odours.
Between them they will assess samples from 3,000 patients to check for prostate cancer, as well as kidney and bladder tumours. When they suspect a sample is cancerous, they have been taught to sit up straight, still and alert. If on the other hand they give it the all-clear, they will walk straight by. The trial is being run by the internationally renowned charity Medical Detection Dogs and Milton Keynes Hospital NHS trust. Researchers hope it will prove that dogs are far more effective at detecting prostate cancer than the standard screening which can be unreliable.
Prostate is the commonest cancer in men with 41,700 cases a year leading to 10,800 deaths.
The current detection method involves a Prostate Specific Antigen blood test which flags up raised levels of a protein, an indicator for prostate cancer.
But this wrongly identifies many men who don’t have cancer leading to them having painful biopsy operations – needlessly – to investigate further. In addition, it misses other patients with fast-growing tumours who don’t have high protein levels, some of whom die.
Studies have found that the PSA test is only 20 per cent accurate whereas early trials of the dogs have found they are correct in 93 per cent of cases.
As part of their training, the dogs were taught to distinguish cancer- ous urine samples f rom men already diagnosed with the illness against those of healthy patients. Each time they correctly identified that a sample was cancerous or healthy, they were rewarded with a tennis ball or biscuit.
Dr Claire Guest, co-founder of Medical Detection Dogs, said: ‘The fact that they wag their tails and like going for walks at lunchtime is irrelevant. These are highly sensi- tive biosensors which are more effective than most machines.
‘Britain has one of the worst rates of early cancer detection in Europe. The NHS needs to be bolder about introducing new innovative methods t o detect cancer in its early stages.’
If the trial is a success, canine screening will be offered to men for free at two clinics funded by charities. These are the Leighton Hospi- tal, part of the Mid Cheshire Foundation trust, paid f or by the Prostate Cancer Support Group, and the Graham Fulford Charitable Trust in Warwick.
The trial will firstly assess how accurately dogs can detect prostate cancer in men already diagnosed with the illness. The dogs will then be given samples from men who don’t know whether or not they have the illness, at the same time as they go for their PSA test.
Each sample will be given to two dogs who should both identify that it is either cancerous or healthy. The men will then be tracked over the next few months to see if they develop cancer and researchers will compare their outcomes with the dogs’ findings.
The trial will also assess the dog’s ability to detect bladder and kidney cancer in samples of men already diagnosed with the illness.
Dr Kat Arney, of Cancer Research UK, said: ‘Any test for cancer must be shown to be reliable, specific and practical, and large-scale clinical trials are an essential part of this process.’
‘More effective than machines’