Dogs have accurately detected bladder cancer in their fellow canines.

Throughout their lives, approximately one in four dogs will develop cancer. One common oncological condition affecting our four-legged companions is bladder cancer. This accounts for nearly two percent of all reported cases of malignant tumors in dogs.

The insidious nature of this type of cancer lies in its ability to mimic other urinary tract disorders, including infections and kidney stones. Identifying it often requires invasive and costly procedures, such as biopsies and histological examinations of samples. All of this can delay the diagnosis and the appropriate treatment for pets.

Previous research has shown that due to their acute sense of smell, dogs can assist in diagnosing various diseases in humans, including oncological conditions such as osteosarcoma, lung cancer, and bladder cancer. A group of veterinarians in the UK hypothesized that, with proper training, dogs could tackle a similar task for their fellow canines. To test this hypothesis, the scientists conducted an experiment, and the results were very promising.

Three dogs who had previously been trained to detect human bladder and prostate cancer underwent additional training using a specialized method to recognize the urine of cancer-afflicted dogs (samples taken from veterinary clinic patients) and distinguish them from "healthy" samples.

The four-legged "diagnosticians" provided a conditional signal—by looking, sitting, or standing—only when they detected the disease. They were rewarded with treats and play for correctly identifying positive and negative samples.

At the conclusion of the tests, the researchers found that the proportion of correctly identified cancer samples ranged from 70% to 90%, averaging around 80%. In the case of control samples, or "healthy" samples, which the dogs were not supposed to signal for, the percentage of accurate responses reached 85-95% (averaging 91.7%).

In an article about the study, published in the journal Veterinary and Comparative Oncology, the veterinarians emphasized the significance of their work: it paves the way for creating a quick, inexpensive, and non-invasive method for detecting bladder cancer in dogs.

According to the scientists, the accuracy of "dog" diagnostics surpassed that of cytological studies and was comparable in reliability to the genetic BRAF method. This indicates that cancer cells have a unique odor, likely due to the volatile organic compounds they release. The results of this experiment may further serve as a foundation for developing an "electronic nose" that could detect oncological conditions at earlier stages.