Intensive training technique utilizing the dog’s olfactory abilities to diagnose prostate cancer in men

Abstract

Carcinoma of the prostate is a commonly occurring malignant tumour in men and is a common cause of death. Early diagnosis and therapy is crucial for the successful treatment of this serious disease. It is therefore desirable to develop a sufficiently reliable, minimally invasive, and inexpensive method of diagnosing prostate cancer, which would usefully supplement the diagnostic techniques currently in common use (digital rectal examination, measuring the prostate-specific antigen level in serum, transrectal ultrasonography). This article describes in detail the methodology of a new technique for intensive training aimed at developing the dog’s olfactory abilities to diagnose carcinoma of the prostate in men while the animal is still young. At the same time, the rate of success in establishing the diagnosis of prostate cancer in men using this method was evaluated based on the identification of urine samples from patients in whom the disease was histologically confirmed. The results of our study demonstrate that the diagnosis of prostate cancer in men using the olfactory abilities of a specially trained dog can be considered a reliable, non-invasive, and relatively inexpensive method of diagnosing carcinoma of the prostate.