Replace current PSA testing with....trained dogs

I saw this posted on another site. Here's the PubMed link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20970246
The report's Conclusion: "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."

I'm just going to copy/paste the rest of the abstract...it's incredible:

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

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: 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.

MEASUREMENTS: 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.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: 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%.

I asked my dog about this and he said; "Shut up and throw the ball."
Perhaps he is not a candidate for this training.

dogs have been used for a while now, sniffing out a variety of cancers. not sure how useful it would be across the board. and in nursing homes, cats have had this knack of knowing which patients were going to die next, kind of spooky

my feelings too, tony. interesting, but no practical value in my opinion. rather see that kind of money spent in more tangible ways for all those that suffer with PC

Dogs are *highly* experienced in pee sniffing, don't forget. This is their #1 favorite pastime, or maybe it's a tie with eating, sleeping, and butt sniffing.

Seriously though, I've read that dogs were also highly effective in detecting lung cancer by sniffing the breath of a group of cancer patients and controls.

If dogs could be patented, all this would be widely available. But there's no money in it, so these observations get suppressed until someone can invent a gizmo that will sniff exactly what the dogs pick up, at $1500 for a five minute test.

Sixty Minutes has done show on cancer smelling dogs...Pretty interesting deal. Untrained dogs have been known to save people lives by smelling cancers that the dog owner didn't know they have..

My mean little kitty on the other hand draws blood from me all the time...which in turn causes all sorts of adverse reactions from me

You guys have me in stitches.
Now at your local CVS Pharmacy. The instructions say:

1) Insert Penis into cuff
2) Allow cuff to inflate
3) Wait for reading to display

Only 25 readings per person please!

Actually, this study does prove a point. It shows there are some volatile organic compounds in the urine that might be used for another type of test instead of the blood test we all know and love.

The future test dip stick might look like the gene mapping cards developed for the Human Genome project. However it would be modified to select for 6 -10 proteins that are specific to PSA. Pee in a cup, dip the card and if it turns pink - you're pregnant.

Jeff

Post Edited (Worried Guy) : 10/28/2010 8:19:15 AM (GMT-6)

The take home kit can bring happiness and joy. But when you go outside in the back yard watch your step. But just having to feed and clean up after your prostate exam? Just sounds wrong.

Tony

As I said to Mike at the InfoLink, we dogs that can decipher between indolent and aggressive disease. We already have a an inexpensive way of detecting the presence of prostate cancer at the molecular level. For bomb sniffing it makes sense to use a dog. Same with drug sniffing and everything else we use the animals keen sense of smell. I have a friend who is a K9 cop that tells me that he was into his dog for nearly 25 grand (paid by the force) so cheap and easy?

Tony