Labrador Marina is able to sniff out cancer in humans

In the experiments conducted in Japan dog breed Labrador has proven its ability to sniff out cancer in humans.

Data on the study published medical journal Gut. They confirm earlier speculation that the dogs are able to recognize early stages of the disease by various forms of cancer, including skin cancer, bladder, lung, ovarian and breast cancer.

Researchers from Kyushu University, used an 8-year-old female Labrador, which were offered five samples of his chair and exhaled air, four of them are healthy people and one - a cancer patient.

The dog successfully distinguished specimen of breath in 33 out of 36 cases. Even more accurate were the results in the analysis of stool samples - 37 of 38. In this case, she identified symptoms even early stage bowel cancer, which is difficult to diagnose.

Used in Britain program for identifying colorectal cancer determine the level of blood in the stool, but researchers suggest that their effectiveness is only 10%. Meanwhile, this type of cancer is sick each 20-second Briton, and each year more than 16,000 people nationwide die from it.

Dr. Hideto Sonoda from Kyushu University, points out that "the method of sniffing dog may be difficult to implement in a clinical setting because of the high cost of dog training and expertise." However, already are working on creating an electronic analyzer which simulates a dog's sense of smell.

"Odor of cancer is really exists, but nobody knows what chemical compounds are of it. Only the dog knows the answer to this question, - said Dr. Sonoda, told BBC. - It is therefore necessary to determine the characteristic of cancer and volatile organic compounds who find a dog, and create an electronic sensor that will replace the dog's nose. This would require a lot of time