can dogs smell cancer

Yes, dogs can smell cancer. Research and several studies have shown that dogs have an extraordinary sense of smell and can detect specific odors or volatile organic compounds released by cancer cells from human breath, urine, sweat, or skin. Dogs have been trained to identify cancers like lung, breast, prostate, bladder, ovarian, colorectal cancers, and melanoma by sniffing samples or the body areas of patients. They can detect cancer even in very early stages by sensing odors produced by tumor cells, which humans cannot detect. This ability is being explored for early non-invasive cancer diagnosis, although it is still primarily a subject of research rather than a widespread clinical tool. Some programs train dogs extensively to distinguish between cancerous and non-cancerous samples with high accuracy, and ongoing research aims to develop computer-based diagnostic tools inspired by dogs' scent detection capabilities.