Dogs can smell cancer in other dogs, study finds
Specially trained dogs were able to identify canine UC with high sensitivity and specificity.
A new study has found that dogs trained to detect cancer in humans are also able to detect bladder cancer in other dogs.
Medical Detection Dogs (MDD), a charity which trains dogs to detect human cancer, has found that three of its dogs could also be trained to detect canine urothelial carcinoma (UC) of the bladder.
UC is the most common bladder cancer in dogs and accounts for almost two per cent of all reported canine cancers.
It can be difficult to diagnose as cystocentesis, taking a urine sample with a needle, can cause the tumour to seed. A definitive diagnosis can only be made through the histopathology of a biopsy sample, which is invasive, costly and delays treatment.
Due to its similarity to other conditions, it can be misdiagnosed as an infection.
MDD has now studied whether three dogs, previously trained to detect human bladder and prostate cancer, could also detect UC in dogs in a quick, non-invasive way.
The dogs were trained to smell urine samples which had been attached to metal stands in MDD’s training room. They would then indicate a response to a cancerous sample by sitting, staring or standing.
Samples had been collected from leftovers at a specialist clinic and from healthy dogs belonging to MDD and its supporters. If a dog indicated a positive sample, or did not respond to healthy samples, they were rewarded with food and play.
The results showed that the specially trained dogs were able to identify canine UC with 90 per cent sensitivity (the rate which they identified positive samples) and 95 per cent specificity (the rate which they ignored negative samples).
The study involved collaboration with researchers from the University of Bristol and was funded by The Kennel Club Charitable Trust.
Claire Guest, who is CEO, co-founder and chief scientific officer at MDD, said: “We are delighted that they were so successful at finding the odour of bladder cancer as it is a difficult disease to diagnose using traditional methods and unpleasant and intrusive for canine patients.
“When they do get diagnosed, the disease is often advanced so there is great potential value in a new, early, cheap, rapid and non-invasive diagnostic test which could lead to opportunities for earlier intervention than is possible at present.”
The full study can be found in the journal Veterinary Oncology.
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The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
