Dogs are amazing sniffers. They have 300 million scent receptors compared to humans’ 5 million and the part of dogs’ brains dedicated to smell is 40 times larger than humans. Experts estimate that this amounts to a 10,000 to 100,000 times greater sense of smell than humans. Humans have long relied on dogs for hunting, finding missing persons, bomb and drug detection and illnesses like diabetes and epilepsy. Leveraging similar training techniques, dogs can be trained to detect a scent associated with cancer with remarkable accuracy.
Dogs can be trained on a “general cancer scent”. Our research has shown that many cancers share a common scent. While we are not sure of the comprehensive list, we have identified that our general cancer dogs can detect the scents associated with breast, lung, prostate, colorectal, thyroid, melanoma, lymphoma, renal and transitional cell carcinoma cancers. Once the cancer odor is identified by the general cancer dogs, the sample will be exposed to dogs trained to detect specific cancers (lung, breast, etc.) to determine which cancer is present.
No, the dogs won’t smell you. Participants are provided collection kits that include a surgical mask for sample collection, sample bag, instructions, consent form, questionnaire and prepaid return envelope. Participants wear the surgical mask and breathe normally for five minutes while completing the paperwork. Masks are then placed in the sample collection bag and returned to BioScentDX for processing.
Surgical masks used to collect breath samples are put in a test tube and placed in canisters on the wall in our screening room. Trainers escort dogs through the screening room and the dogs are trained to smell each sample. Dogs will sit at a sample if they smell an odor associated with a cancer scent.
In our testing, our dogs are performing at up to 97.9% accuracy in detecting a cancer scent in known positive samples when it is present. See our most resent research paper under the "Learn More" link on our homepage.
By purchasing a kit, you will be participating in a research study that will help us determine the dogs accuracy in screening samples that are unknown. We will follow up with participants at 12 and 18 months to cmopare the dogs findings with any traditional testing you may have had preformed.
Dogs that fall below our minimum performance criteria are removed from the testing program. All dogs periodically receive refresher training and testing quarterly to ensure they meet the minimum standards to continue to do the testing.
No. A positive result means that a majority of the dogs that smelled your sample indicated that there was the presence of an odor consistent with cancer. This is not a positive finding for cancer. Any positive results should be shared with your physician and you should consult with them on any appropriate next steps.
In this instance, we recommend that you share the result with your physician and use the initial screening results (e.g. one out of four dogs indicating positive on your sample) as a baseline and repeat your screening twice yearly. An increase in the number of dogs indicating positive in future screenings may indicate an occurrence of cancer.
Yes, although the results may come back as inconclusive if you are in remission from cancer. In this instance, we recommend that you use the initial screening results (e.g. one out of four dogs indicating positive on your sample) as a baseline and repeat your screening twice yearly. An increase in the number of dogs indicating positive in future screenings may indicate a recurrence of cancer.
If your physician is not familiar with this screening method, please direct them to bioscentdx.com for more information about the technology, research studies and our services. We recommend that you continue to stay vigilant with your preventative medicine exams and let your doctor know immediately if you have any suspicious changes in your health.
People at low risk for cancer may consider getting screened on an annual basis. People falling into high risk categories due to age, personal or family history of cancer, known gene mutations like BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 or because of environmental exposure risks may consider getting screened twice yearly.