Dogs trained to sniff out cancer
Plenty is known about power of a dog's nose - their sense of smell has been used to sniff out enemies like diabetes and melanoma.
Now it's hoped man's best friend will be able to protect women from Ovarian Cancer, a disease that's incredibly hard to detect.
McBain, a Springer Spaniel could help save women from one of the deadliest types of cancer.
“He's been an incredible addition to my life he's changed my life," Foster dog carer Caroline News told 7News.
McBain and 3 other dogs are being trained to detect ovarian cancer in its early stages.
They learn the scent of chemicals found in ovarian cancer tissue and blood.
When they stop in front of the cancer positive sample on a wheel they are rewarded.
Researchers say these dogs have a 90 per cent accuracy rate.
"Our goal is not to put a dog in every hospital, in every lab but what we really want to do is help refine the technology by using the exquisite ability of the dog's nose," researcher Cynthia Otter said.
The aim is to build an electronic nose that works as well as a dog's. Its sense of smell is 100,000 times more sensitive than a human's.
Barbara Lisser was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer and she donated her tissues to the study to help other women have better outcomes by finding out earlier.
“if anything could be done to prevent things in the future it would be great,” she said.
An electronic nose that can detect Ovarian cancer should be available within three years.
