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Belaid I, Baya MF, Ben Ayed S, Ben Ayed A, Maatoug J, Zommit N, Trabelsi MA, Ben Chida N, Khairi H, Ben Fatma L, Chabchoub I, Ammar N, Bourigua R, Hochlaf M, Ezzaari F, Ben Ahmed S. Transcutaneous canine breast cancer detection in Tunisia: a pilot study. BMC Cancer 2024; 24:151. [PMID: 38291377 PMCID: PMC10826062 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-023-11599-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Breast cancer in Tunisia is often diagnosed at a late stage with long delay in time to consultation and to diagnosis.The aim of this study is to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of the transcutaneous breast cancer detection by canine olfactionin Tunisian women and to identify the potential confounding factors. METHODS This is a diagnostic case control study that took place from October 2021 to November 2022 in the Department of Medical Oncology at the University Hospital Farhat Hached of Sousse and in the security and training dog center located in Sousse (K9 Dog Center Security & Training). A two-year-old male Belgian Malinois was trained to detect breast cancer on skin secretion samples in compresses that had been worn overnight by women on their breast and then a double-blind testing was performed. There was no contact between women and the dog. From the mentioned responses of the dog, four parameters were calculated: sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV). RESULTS Two hundred women were included in this trial: 100 breast cancer (BC) patients recruited from Farhat Hached University Hospital of Sousse and 100 healthy volunteers (HV).The calculated sensitivity was 84% (95% CI 78-89%) and the calculated specificity was 81% (95% CI 75-86%). The calculated predictive values were: PPV = 83,51% (95% CI 78,37-88,65%) and NPV = 81,55% (95% CI 76.17-86.93%). In the multivariate study, only four confounding factors of test's sensitivity were retained: age (OR = 1.210 [95% CI = 1.085-1.349]; p = 0.001), history of diabetes(OR = 0.017 [95% CI = 0.001-0.228]; p = 0.002), sampling at hospital (OR = 0.010 [95% CI = 0.003-0.464]; p = 0.010) and testing during chemotherapy courses (OR = 0.034 [95% CI = 0.003-0.404]; p = 0.007).For test's specificity, we retained the three following confounding factors: age (OR = 1,104 [95% CI = 1.021-1.195]; p = 0.014), history of benign mastopathy (OR = 0.243 [95% CI = 0.074-0.805]; p = 0.021)and history of arterial hypertension (OR = 0.194 [95% CI = 0.053-0.707]; p = 0.013). CONCLUSION This is a pilot study that opens new avenues in developing a reliable cancer diagnostic tool that integrates the dog's olfactory ability to detect breast cancer using a transcutaneous sampling method. It could be a pre-test to select patients who are eligible to a screening mammogram, especially in low-income countries where there is no national mammography screening program. PACTR. ORG IDENTIFIER PACTR202201864472288, registration date 11/01/2022.
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Affiliation(s)
- Imtinene Belaid
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Association de Recherche et d'Information sur le Cancer du Centre Tunisien (ARIC), Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia.
| | - Mohamed Fedy Baya
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Association de Recherche et d'Information sur le Cancer du Centre Tunisien (ARIC), Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Saif Ben Ayed
- K9 Dog Security and Training Center, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Ali Ben Ayed
- K9 Dog Security and Training Center, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Jihen Maatoug
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Epidemiology, Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Nawel Zommit
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Epidemiology, Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
| | | | - Noureddine Ben Chida
- National School of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Research Institute, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Hedi Khairi
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Gynecology, Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Leila Ben Fatma
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Association de Recherche et d'Information sur le Cancer du Centre Tunisien (ARIC), Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Imene Chabchoub
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Association de Recherche et d'Information sur le Cancer du Centre Tunisien (ARIC), Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Nouha Ammar
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Association de Recherche et d'Information sur le Cancer du Centre Tunisien (ARIC), Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Rym Bourigua
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Association de Recherche et d'Information sur le Cancer du Centre Tunisien (ARIC), Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Makrem Hochlaf
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Association de Recherche et d'Information sur le Cancer du Centre Tunisien (ARIC), Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Faten Ezzaari
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Association de Recherche et d'Information sur le Cancer du Centre Tunisien (ARIC), Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
| | - Slim Ben Ahmed
- Faculté de Médecine de Sousse, Farhat Hached University Hospital, Department of Medical Oncology, Association de Recherche et d'Information sur le Cancer du Centre Tunisien (ARIC), Université de Sousse, 4000, Sousse, Tunisia
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Maidodou L, Clarot I, Leemans M, Fromantin I, Marchioni E, Steyer D. Unraveling the potential of breath and sweat VOC capture devices for human disease detection: a systematic-like review of canine olfaction and GC-MS analysis. Front Chem 2023; 11:1282450. [PMID: 38025078 PMCID: PMC10646374 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1282450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of disease screening methods using biomedical detection dogs relies on the collection and analysis of body odors, particularly volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in body fluids. To capture and analyze odors produced by the human body, numerous protocols and materials are used in forensics or medical studies. This paper provides an overview of sampling devices used to collect VOCs from sweat and exhaled air, for medical diagnostic purposes using canine olfaction and/or Gas Chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Canine olfaction and GC-MS are regarded as complementary tools, holding immense promise for detecting cancers and infectious diseases. However, existing literature lacks guidelines for selecting materials suitable for both canine olfaction and GC-MS. Hence, this review aims to address this gap and pave the way for efficient body odor sampling materials. The first section of the paper describes the materials utilized in training sniffing dogs, while the second section delves into the details of sampling devices and extraction techniques employed for exhaled air and sweat analysis using GC-MS. Finally, the paper proposes the development of an ideal sampling device tailored for detection purposes in the field of odorology. By bridging the knowledge gap, this study seeks to advance disease detection methodologies, harnessing the unique abilities of both dogs and GC-MS analysis in biomedical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laetitia Maidodou
- Twistaroma, Illkirch Graffenstaden, France
- CITHEFOR, EA 3452, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France
- DSA, IPHC UMR7178, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Igor Clarot
- CITHEFOR, EA 3452, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France
| | - Michelle Leemans
- Clinical Epidemiology and Ageing, IMRB—Paris Est Créteil University /Inserm U955, Créteil, France
| | - Isabelle Fromantin
- Clinical Epidemiology and Ageing, IMRB—Paris Est Créteil University /Inserm U955, Créteil, France
- Wound Care and Research Unit, Curie Institute, Paris, France
| | - Eric Marchioni
- DSA, IPHC UMR7178, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
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3
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Gouzerh F, Ganem G, Pichevin A, Dormont L, Thomas F. Ability of animals to detect cancer odors. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 2023; 1878:188850. [PMID: 36528192 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2022.188850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The olfactory capacity of animals has long been used by humans to help with various activities, e.g., hunting, detecting mines, locating people, and diagnosing diseases. Cancer is among the leading diseases causing death worldwide. Several recent studies have underscored the benefit of using scent to detect cancer, and this paper will review the studies using animals to detect tumor scents. A large variety of animals have been used for this purpose-dogs, rodents, insects, and nematodes-and have shown their capacity to detect cancer, with a success rate close to 90%. Here we discuss these studies, their methodologies, and the animal models used. Finally, we discuss the medical perspectives for cancer diagnosis using odors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flora Gouzerh
- Centre de Recherches Écologiques et Évolutives sur le Cancer, Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle, UMR IRD 224- CNRS 5290- Université de Montpellier, 34394 Montpellier, France; Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Université́ de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, 34293 Montpellier, France.
| | - Guila Ganem
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, ISEM, Université Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, 34095 Montpellier, France
| | - Anaïs Pichevin
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Université́ de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, 34293 Montpellier, France
| | - Laurent Dormont
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Université́ de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, 34293 Montpellier, France
| | - Frédéric Thomas
- Centre de Recherches Écologiques et Évolutives sur le Cancer, Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Ecologie, Génétique, Evolution et Contrôle, UMR IRD 224- CNRS 5290- Université de Montpellier, 34394 Montpellier, France
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4
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Bauër P, Leemans M, Audureau E, Gilbert C, Armal C, Fromantin I. Remote Medical Scent Detection of Cancer and Infectious Diseases With Dogs and Rats: A Systematic Review. Integr Cancer Ther 2022; 21:15347354221140516. [PMID: 36541180 PMCID: PMC9791295 DOI: 10.1177/15347354221140516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Remote medical scent detection of cancer and infectious diseases with dogs and rats has been an increasing field of research these last 20 years. If validated, the possibility of implementing such a technique in the clinic raises many hopes. This systematic review was performed to determine the evidence and performance of such methods and assess their potential relevance in the clinic. METHODS Pubmed and Web of Science databases were independently searched based on PRISMA standards between 01/01/2000 and 01/05/2021. We included studies aiming at detecting cancers and infectious diseases affecting humans with dogs or rats. We excluded studies using other animals, studies aiming to detect agricultural diseases, diseases affecting animals, and others such as diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. Only original articles were included. Data about patients' selection, samples, animal characteristics, animal training, testing configurations, and performances were recorded. RESULTS A total of 62 studies were included. Sensitivity and specificity varied a lot among studies: While some publications report low sensitivities of 0.17 and specificities around 0.29, others achieve rates of 1 sensitivity and specificity. Only 6 studies were evaluated in a double-blind screening-like situation. In general, the risk of performance bias was high in most evaluated studies, and the quality of the evidence found was low. CONCLUSIONS Medical detection using animals' sense of smell lacks evidence and performances so far to be applied in the clinic. What odors the animals detect is not well understood. Further research should be conducted, focusing on patient selection, samples (choice of materials, standardization), and testing conditions. Interpolations of such results to free running detection (direct contact with humans) should be taken with extreme caution. Considering this synthesis, we discuss the challenges and highlight the excellent odor detection threshold exhibited by animals which represents a potential opportunity to develop an accessible and non-invasive method for disease detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Bauër
- Institut Curie, Paris, France,Univ Paris Est Creteil, INSERM, IMRB, Team CEpiA
| | - Michelle Leemans
- Univ Paris Est Creteil, INSERM, IMRB, Team CEpiA,Michelle Leemans, Univ Paris Est Creteil, INSERM, IMRB, Team CEpiA, 61 Av. du Général de Gaulle, 94000 Créteil, F-94010 Créteil, France.
| | | | - Caroline Gilbert
- Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy, France,Ecole nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort, Maisons-Alfort cedex, France
| | | | - Isabelle Fromantin
- Institut Curie, Paris, France,Univ Paris Est Creteil, INSERM, IMRB, Team CEpiA
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Crawford MA, Perrone JA, Browne CM, Chang CL, Hopping S, Edwards TL. Transitioning from Training to Testing with Scent Detection Animals: Application to Lung Cancer Detection Dogs. J Vet Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2022.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Grandjean D, Gallet C, Julien C, Sarkis R, Muzzin Q, Roger V, Roisse D, Dirn N, Levert C, Breton E, Galtat A, Forget A, Charreaudeau S, Gasmi F, Jean-Baptiste C, Petitjean S, Hamon K, Duquesne JM, Coudert C, Tourtier JP, Billy C, Wurtz JM, Chauvin A, Eyer X, Ziani S, Prevel L, Cherubini I, Khelili-Houas E, Hausfater P, Devillier P, Desquilbet L. Identifying SARS-COV-2 infected patients through canine olfactive detection on axillary sweat samples; study of observed sensitivities and specificities within a group of trained dogs. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0262631. [PMID: 35157716 PMCID: PMC8843128 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/31/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
There is an increasing need for rapid, reliable, non-invasive, and inexpensive mass testing methods as the global COVID-19 pandemic continues. Detection dogs could be a possible solution to identify individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2. Previous studies have shown that dogs can detect SARS-CoV-2 on sweat samples. This study aims to establish the dogs’ sensitivity (true positive rate) which measures the proportion of people with COVID-19 that are correctly identified, and specificity (true negative rate) which measures the proportion of people without COVID-19 that are correctly identified. Seven search and rescue dogs were tested using a total of 218 axillary sweat samples (62 positive and 156 negative) in olfaction cones following a randomised and double-blind protocol. Sensitivity ranged from 87% to 94%, and specificity ranged from 78% to 92%, with four dogs over 90%. These results were used to calculate the positive predictive value and negative predictive value for each dog for different infection probabilities (how likely it is for an individual to be SARS-CoV-2 positive), ranging from 10–50%. These results were compared with a reference diagnostic tool which has 95% specificity and sensitivity. Negative predictive values for six dogs ranged from ≥98% at 10% infection probability to ≥88% at 50% infection probability compared with the reference tool which ranged from 99% to 95%. Positive predictive values ranged from ≥40% at 10% infection probability to ≥80% at 50% infection probability compared with the reference tool which ranged from 68% to 95%. This study confirms previous results, suggesting that dogs could play an important role in mass-testing situations. Future challenges include optimal training methods and standardisation for large numbers of detection dogs and infrastructure supporting their deployment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominique Grandjean
- Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort (Alfort School of Veterinary Medicine), University Paris-Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
- * E-mail:
| | - Capucine Gallet
- Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort (Alfort School of Veterinary Medicine), University Paris-Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Clothilde Julien
- Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort (Alfort School of Veterinary Medicine), University Paris-Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Riad Sarkis
- Université Franco-Libanaise St Joseph (Saint Joseph University of Beirut), Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Quentin Muzzin
- Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort (Alfort School of Veterinary Medicine), University Paris-Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Vinciane Roger
- Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort (Alfort School of Veterinary Medicine), University Paris-Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Didier Roisse
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours de l’Oise (Fire and Rescue Service), Tillé, France
| | - Nicolas Dirn
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours de l’Oise (Fire and Rescue Service), Tillé, France
| | - Clement Levert
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (Fire and Rescue Service), Versailles, France
| | - Erwan Breton
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (Fire and Rescue Service), Versailles, France
| | - Arnaud Galtat
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (Fire and Rescue Service), Versailles, France
| | - Alexandre Forget
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (Fire and Rescue Service), Versailles, France
| | - Sebastien Charreaudeau
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (Fire and Rescue Service), Versailles, France
| | - Fabien Gasmi
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (Fire and Rescue Service), Versailles, France
| | - Caroline Jean-Baptiste
- Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort (Alfort School of Veterinary Medicine), University Paris-Est, Maisons-Alfort, France
| | - Sebastien Petitjean
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (Fire and Rescue Service), Versailles, France
| | - Katia Hamon
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (Fire and Rescue Service), Versailles, France
| | - Jean-Michel Duquesne
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (Fire and Rescue Service), Versailles, France
| | - Chantal Coudert
- Service Départemental d’Incendie et de Secours des Yvelines (Fire and Rescue Service), Versailles, France
| | - Jean-Pierre Tourtier
- Hôpital d’Instruction des Armées Begin (Begin Military Hospital), Saint-Mandé, France
| | - Christophe Billy
- Centre Hospitalier François Quesnay (François Quesnay Hospital Centre), GHT Yvelines, Mantes-la-Jolie, France
| | - Jean-Marc Wurtz
- Site d’Altkirch GHRMSA (Groupement Hospitalier Mulhouse Sud Alsace), Altkirch, France
| | - Anthony Chauvin
- Hôpital Lariboisière APHP (Lariboisière Hospital, APHP Great Paris Hospitals), Paris, France
| | - Xavier Eyer
- Hôpital Lariboisière APHP (Lariboisière Hospital, APHP Great Paris Hospitals), Paris, France
| | - Sabrina Ziani
- Hôpitaux de Saint-Maurice (Saint-Maurice Hospital), Saint-Maurice, France
| | | | - Ilaria Cherubini
- Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière APHP (Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, APHP Great Paris Hospitals), Paris, France
| | - Enfel Khelili-Houas
- Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière APHP (Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, APHP Great Paris Hospitals), Paris, France
| | - Pierre Hausfater
- Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière APHP (Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, APHP Great Paris Hospitals), Paris, France
| | | | - Loic Desquilbet
- Ecole nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort, Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM, IMRB, Maisons-Alfort, France
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Kokocińska-Kusiak A, Woszczyło M, Zybala M, Maciocha J, Barłowska K, Dzięcioł M. Canine Olfaction: Physiology, Behavior, and Possibilities for Practical Applications. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11082463. [PMID: 34438920 PMCID: PMC8388720 DOI: 10.3390/ani11082463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Dogs have an extraordinary olfactory capability, which far exceeds that of humans. Dogs’ sense of smell seems to be the main sense, allowing them to not only gather both current and historical information about their surrounding environment, but also to find the source of the smell, which is crucial for locating food, danger, or partners for reproduction. Dogs can be trained by humans to use their olfactory abilities in a variety of fields, with a detection limit often much lower than that of sophisticated laboratory instruments. The specific anatomical and physiological features of dog olfaction allow humans to achieve outstanding results in the detection of drugs, explosives, and different illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes, or infectious disease. This article provides an overview of the anatomical features and physiological mechanisms involved in the process of odor detection and identification, as well as behavioral aspects of canine olfaction and its use in the service of humans in many fields. Abstract Olfaction in dogs is crucial for gathering important information about the environment, recognizing individuals, making decisions, and learning. It is far more specialized and sensitive than humans’ sense of smell. Using the strength of dogs’ sense of smell, humans work with dogs for the recognition of different odors, with a precision far exceeding the analytical capabilities of most modern instruments. Due to their extremely sensitive sense of smell, dogs could be used as modern, super-sensitive mobile area scanners, detecting specific chemical signals in real time in various environments outside the laboratory, and then tracking the odor of dynamic targets to their source, also in crowded places. Recent studies show that dogs can detect not only specific scents of drugs or explosives, but also changes in emotions as well as in human cell metabolism during various illnesses, including COVID-19 infection. Here, we provide an overview of canine olfaction, discussing aspects connected with anatomy, physiology, behavioral aspects of sniffing, and factors influencing the olfactory abilities of the domestic dog (Canis familiaris).
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Affiliation(s)
- Agata Kokocińska-Kusiak
- Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, ul. Ciszewskiego 8, 02-786 Warszawa, Poland; (A.K.-K.); (J.M.)
| | - Martyna Woszczyło
- Department of Reproduction and Clinic of Farm Animals, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Plac Grunwaldzki 49, 50-366 Wrocław, Poland;
| | - Mikołaj Zybala
- Institute of Biological Sciences, Doctoral School, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, ul. Konarskiego 2, 08-110 Siedlce, Poland;
| | - Julia Maciocha
- Institute of Animal Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, ul. Ciszewskiego 8, 02-786 Warszawa, Poland; (A.K.-K.); (J.M.)
| | - Katarzyna Barłowska
- Department of Biotechnology and Nutrigenomics, Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzębiec, 05-552 Magdalenka, Poland;
| | - Michał Dzięcioł
- Department of Reproduction and Clinic of Farm Animals, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Plac Grunwaldzki 49, 50-366 Wrocław, Poland;
- Correspondence:
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Feil C, Staib F, Berger MR, Stein T, Schmidtmann I, Forster A, Schimanski CC. Sniffer dogs can identify lung cancer patients from breath and urine samples. BMC Cancer 2021; 21:917. [PMID: 34388977 PMCID: PMC8362224 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-021-08651-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lung cancer is the most common oncological cause of death in the Western world. Early diagnosis is critical for successful treatment. However, no effective screening methods exist. A promising approach could be the use of volatile organic compounds as diagnostic biomarkers. To date there are several studies, in which dogs were trained to discriminate cancer samples from controls. In this study we evaluated the abilities of specifically trained dogs to distinguish samples derived from lung cancer patients of various tumor stages from matched healthy controls. METHODS This single center, double-blind clinical trial was approved by the local ethics committee, project no FF20/2016. The dog was conditioned with urine and breath samples of 36 cancer patients and 150 controls; afterwards, further 246 patients were included: 41 lung cancer patients comprising all stages and 205 healthy controls. From each patient two breath and urine samples were collected and shock frozen. Only samples from new subjects were presented to the dog during study phase randomized, double-blinded. This resulted in a specific conditioned reaction pointing to the cancer sample. RESULTS Using a combination of urine and breath samples, the dog correctly predicted 40 out of 41 cancer samples, corresponding to an overall detection rate of cancer samples of 97.6% (95% CI [87.1, 99.9%]). Using urine samples only the dog achieved a detection rate of 87.8% (95% CI [73.8, 95.9%]). With breath samples, the dog correctly identified cancer in 32 of 41 samples, resulting in a detection rate of 78% (95% CI [62.4, 89.4%]). CONCLUSIONS It is known from current literature that breath and urine samples carry VOCs pointing to cancer growth. We conclude that olfactory detection of lung cancer by specifically trained dogs is highly suggestive to be a simple and non-invasive tool to detect lung cancer. To translate this approach into practice further target compounds need to be identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Feil
- 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Municipal Hospital Darmstadt, Grafenstraße 9, 64283, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Frank Staib
- 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Municipal Hospital Darmstadt, Grafenstraße 9, 64283, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Martin R Berger
- Toxicology and Chemotherapy Unit, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Thorsten Stein
- 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Municipal Hospital Darmstadt, Grafenstraße 9, 64283, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Irene Schmidtmann
- Institute for Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Carl C Schimanski
- 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Municipal Hospital Darmstadt, Grafenstraße 9, 64283, Darmstadt, Germany.
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Powell NA, Ruffell A, Arnott G. The Untrained Response of Pet Dogs to Human Epileptic Seizures. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:2267. [PMID: 34438725 PMCID: PMC8388511 DOI: 10.3390/ani11082267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2021] [Revised: 07/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Epilepsy is a debilitating and potentially life-threatening neurological condition which affects approximately 65 million people worldwide. There is currently no reliable and simple early warning seizure-onset device available, which means many people with unstable epilepsy live in fear of injury or sudden death and the negative impact of social stigmatization. If anecdotal claims that untrained dogs anticipate seizures are found to be true, they could offer a simple and readily available early warning system. We hypothesized that, given the extraordinary olfactory ability of dogs, a volatile organic compound exhaled by the dog's epileptic owner may constitute an early warning trigger mechanism to which make dogs react by owner-directed affiliative responses in the pre-seizure period. Using 19 pet dogs with no experience of epilepsy, we exposed them to odours that were deemed to be characteristic of three seizure phases, by using sweat harvested from people with epilepsy. The odours were delivered to a point immediately under a non-epileptic and seated pet dog owner's thighs. By altering the alternating odours emerging from sweat samples, captured before seizure, during a seizure and after a seizure, and two nonseizure controls, we were able to record the response of the 19 pet dogs. Our findings suggest that seizures are associated with an odour and that dogs detect this odour and demonstrate a marked increase in affiliative behaviour directed at their owners. A characteristic response of all 19 dogs to seizure odour presentation was an intense stare which was statistically significant, (p < 0.0029), across the pre-seizure, seizure and post-seizure phases when compared to control odours of nonseizure origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil A. Powell
- School of Biological Sciences, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5DL, UK;
- Search and Rescue Dog Association Ireland North, Newcastle BT33 0PW, UK
| | - Alastair Ruffell
- School of Natural and Built Environment, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK;
| | - Gareth Arnott
- School of Biological Sciences, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5DL, UK;
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10
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D'Aniello B, Pinelli C, Varcamonti M, Rendine M, Lombardi P, Scandurra A. COVID Sniffer Dogs: Technical and Ethical Concerns. Front Vet Sci 2021; 8:669712. [PMID: 34235201 PMCID: PMC8255683 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.669712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Biagio D'Aniello
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Claudia Pinelli
- Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy
| | - Mario Varcamonti
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Marcello Rendine
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
| | - Pietro Lombardi
- Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Anna Scandurra
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
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11
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Matthew EE, Relton CE. Training methodology for canine scent detection of a critically endangered lagomorph: a conservation case study. JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.25225/jvb.20092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Esther E. Matthew
- Senior Field Officer, The Endangered Wildlife Trust, Loxton, Northern Cape, South Africa; e-mail:
| | - Claire E. Relton
- Senior Science Officer, The Endangered Wildlife Trust, Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa; e-mail:
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12
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Can the detection dog alert on COVID-19 positive persons by sniffing axillary sweat samples? A proof-of-concept study. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0243122. [PMID: 33301539 PMCID: PMC7728218 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/14/2020] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this proof-of-concept study was to evaluate if trained dogs could discriminate between sweat samples from symptomatic COVID-19 positive individuals (SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive) and those from asymptomatic COVID-19 negative individuals. The study was conducted at 2 sites (Paris, France, and Beirut, Lebanon), followed the same training and testing protocols, and involved six detection dogs (three explosive detection dogs, one search and rescue dog, and two colon cancer detection dogs). A total of 177 individuals were recruited for the study (95 symptomatic COVID-19 positive and 82 asymptomatic COVID-19 negative individuals) from five hospitals, and one underarm sweat sample per individual was collected. The dog training sessions lasted between one and three weeks. Once trained, the dog had to mark the COVID-19 positive sample randomly placed behind one of three or four olfactory cones (the other cones contained at least one COVID-19 negative sample and between zero and two mocks). During the testing session, a COVID-19 positive sample could be used up to a maximum of three times for one dog. The dog and its handler were both blinded to the COVID-positive sample location. The success rate per dog (i.e., the number of correct indications divided by the number of trials) ranged from 76% to 100%. The lower bound of the 95% confidence interval of the estimated success rate was most of the time higher than the success rate obtained by chance after removing the number of mocks from calculations. These results provide some evidence that detection dogs may be able to discriminate between sweat samples from symptomatic COVID-19 individuals and those from asymptomatic COVID-19 negative individuals. However, due to the limitations of this proof-of-concept study (including using some COVID-19 samples more than once and potential confounding biases), these results must be confirmed in validation studies.
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13
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Guest CM, Harris R, Anjum I, Concha AR, Rooney NJ. A Lesson in Standardization - Subtle Aspects of the Processing of Samples Can Greatly Affect Dogs' Learning. Front Vet Sci 2020; 7:525. [PMID: 33015138 PMCID: PMC7461772 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 07/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Training new medical odors presents challenges in procuring sufficient target samples, and suitably matched controls. Organizations are often forced to choose between using fewer samples and risking dogs learning individuals or using differently sourced samples. Even when aiming to standardize all aspects of collection, processing, storage and presentation, this risks there being subtle differences which dogs use to discriminate, leading to artificially high performance, not replicable when novel samples are presented. We describe lessons learnt during early training of dogs to detect prostate cancer from urine. Initially, six dogs were trained to discriminate between hospital-sourced target and externally-sourced controls believed to be processed and stored the same way. Dogs performed well: mean sensitivity 93.5% (92.2–94.5) and specificity 87.9% (78.2–91.9). When training progressed to include hospital-sourced controls, dogs greatly decreased in specificity 67.3% (43.2–83.3). Alerted to a potential issue, we carried out a methodical, investigation. We presented new strategically chosen samples to the dogs and conducted a logistic regression analysis to ascertain which factor most affected specificity. We discovered the two sets of samples varied in a critical aspect, hospital-processed samples were tested by dipping the urinalysis stick into the sample, whilst for externally sourced samples a small amount of urine was poured onto the stick. Dogs had learnt to distinguish target aided by the odor of this stick. This highlights the importance of considering every aspect of sample processing even when using urine, often believed to be less susceptible to contamination than media like breath.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire M Guest
- Medical Detection Dogs, Greenway Business Park, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Rob Harris
- Medical Detection Dogs, Greenway Business Park, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Iqbal Anjum
- US Army Research Office - Texas Tech University, Lackland, TX, United States
| | - Astrid R Concha
- Milton Keynes University Hospital, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Nicola J Rooney
- Medical Detection Dogs, Greenway Business Park, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.,Animal Welfare and Behaviour Group, Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
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14
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Lazarowski L, Krichbaum S, DeGreeff LE, Simon A, Singletary M, Angle C, Waggoner LP. Methodological Considerations in Canine Olfactory Detection Research. Front Vet Sci 2020; 7:408. [PMID: 32766296 PMCID: PMC7379233 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Dogs are increasingly used in a wide range of detection tasks including explosives, narcotics, medical, and wildlife detection. Research on detection dog performance is important to understand olfactory capabilities, behavioral characteristics, improve training, expand deployment practices, and advance applied canine technologies. As such, it is important to understand the influence of specific variables on the quantification of detection dog performance such as test design, experimental controls, odor characteristics, and statistical analysis. Methods for testing canine scent detection vary influencing the outcome metrics of performance and the validity of results. Operators, management teams, policy makers, and law enforcement rely on scientific data to make decisions, design policies, and advance canine technologies. A lack of scientific information and standardized protocols in the detector dog industry adds difficulty and inaccuracies when making informed decisions about capability, vulnerability, and risk analysis. Therefore, the aim of this review is to highlight important methodological issues and expand on considerations for conducting scientifically valid detection dog research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Lazarowski
- Canine Performance Sciences Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
| | - Sarah Krichbaum
- Canine Performance Sciences Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States.,Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
| | - Lauryn E DeGreeff
- Chemistry Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Alison Simon
- AGS Forensics, LLC, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Melissa Singletary
- Canine Performance Sciences Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States.,Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
| | - Craig Angle
- Canine Performance Sciences Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
| | - L Paul Waggoner
- Canine Performance Sciences Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, United States
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15
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DeChant MT, Ford C, Hall NJ. Effect of Handler Knowledge of the Detection Task on Canine Search Behavior and Performance. Front Vet Sci 2020; 7:250. [PMID: 32528982 PMCID: PMC7266931 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Detection dogs are commonly trained and tested under conditions in which the handler or the evaluator knows the true presence or absence of a target odor. Previous research has demonstrated that when handlers are deceived and led to believe that a target odor is present, more false alerts occur. However, many detection teams operate under unknown conditions, and it remains unclear how handler knowledge (or lack thereof) of odor presence/absence influences the dog's behavior. The aim of this study was to evaluate if knowing the number of hides placed influenced detection dog performance in an applied search environment. Professional (n = 20) and sport (n = 39) detection handler-dog teams were asked to search three separate areas (area 1 had one hide, area 2 had one hide, area 3 was blank). Handlers in the Unknown Group were not told any information on the number of hides whereas the Known Group were told there was a total of two hides in the three areas. The sport Unknown Group spent a longer duration (69.04 s) searching in area 3 compared to the sport Known Group (p = 0.004). Further, sport dogs in the Unknown group looked back to the handler more frequently. When a miss did occur, dogs of both sport and professional handlers showed an increase interest in the location of the target odor compared to a comparison location. Critically, however, there was no difference in false alerts between the Known Group and Unknown Group for sport or professional handlers. In a second experiment, fourteen professional, and thirty-nine sport teams from Experiment 1 conducted an additional search double-blind and an additional search single-blind. Both sport and professional-handler dog teams had statistically similar accuracy rate under single and double blind conditions. Overall, when handlers knew the number of hides, it led to significant changes in search behavior of the detection team but did not influence the overall false alert rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mallory T DeChant
- Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United States
| | | | - Nathaniel J Hall
- Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United States
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16
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Essler JL, Wilson C, Verta AC, Feuer R, Otto CM. Differences in the Search Behavior of Cancer Detection Dogs Trained to Have Either a Sit or Stand-Stare Final Response. Front Vet Sci 2020; 7:118. [PMID: 32232060 PMCID: PMC7082225 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2019] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent literature has demonstrated that dogs have the potential to detect, and communicate the presence of, various human diseases. However, there is a lack of investigation into whether commonplace training differences within the field could influence a dog's behavior during a biomedical detection task. Here we report on the behavior of four dogs trained to alert to blood plasma samples taken from individuals with ovarian cancer. One hundred trials per dog were selected from routine video recordings collected over a period of 13 months. Videos were coded frame by frame to quantify sample checking, alerting behavior, and durations of alert. Dogs had previously been trained to elicit a final response behavior once they had located the target odor. Two dogs had a “sit” response while the other two had a “stand-stare” response. Alert behavior was categorized as true positive (a correct alert to a cancer sample) or false positive (an incorrect alert to biological and non-biological controls and distractors). Hesitations were also recorded, where the dog either checks the sample twice or, spends a longer duration of time sniffing the sample than a true pass without carrying out their final response. Results show individual variation in the total frequency of false alerts elicited. However, the rate of hesitations appears to be influenced by alert style, with stand-stare dogs carrying out 40 and 32, respectively (total = 72) and sit dogs carrying out 7 and 8, respectively (total = 15). The stand-stare dogs had a non-significant difference in the duration of their true and false positive alerts. In contrast, the sit dogs showed a significant difference (p < 0.001), maintaining their false alerts for, on average, two times the duration of their true alerts. Stand-stare dogs increased the duration of time spent in contact with the port when plasma samples were present, whereas sit dogs spent on average 0.3 s in contact with the port regardless of what sample type it contained. These findings suggest that the type of operant response a biomedical detection dog has been trained may influence their sample checking and response behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L Essler
- Penn Vet Working Dog Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Clara Wilson
- Penn Vet Working Dog Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Alexander C Verta
- Penn Vet Working Dog Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Rebecca Feuer
- Penn Vet Working Dog Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Cynthia M Otto
- Penn Vet Working Dog Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.,Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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17
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Mazzola SM, Pirrone F, Sedda G, Gasparri R, Romano R, Spaggiari L, Mariangela A. Two-step investigation of lung cancer detection by sniffer dogs. J Breath Res 2020; 14:026011. [PMID: 31995790 DOI: 10.1088/1752-7163/ab716e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Early detection of lung cancer (LC) is a priority since LC is characterized by symptoms mimicking other respiratory conditions, but it remains the leading cause of oncological disease death. Properly trained dogs can perceive the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) related to cancer thanks to their acute sense of smell. The use of dogs for LC detection could be advantageous: reliably trained dogs would represent a valuable, cost-effective, non-invasive method of screening, which gives a clear-cut yes/no response. However, whether sniffer dogs are able to maintain their discriminative capacity under long-term control, and in different types of environments, needs further investigation. In this study, we sought to test two hypotheses: firstly, if dogs can be trained to perceive LC-related VOCs in human urine, a substrate which is not influenced by the carrier materials and may thus be a good candidate for large-number screening; and secondly, whether trained dogs retain their performance stability over time, even if the environment in which the tests are carried out varies. We have selected three family dogs that underwent a one-year training period (two weekly training sessions) by the clicker training method. At the end of the training, the dogs underwent two separate test phases, in two different locations, one year apart. All the other procedures had been maintained unchanged. The donors of the samples submitted to the dogs were recruited by the European Institute of Oncology (IEO), Milan, Italy. The results show that the dogs had different sensitivity (range: 45%-73%) and specificity rates (range: 89%-91%), and were deceived neither by lung conditions (that the dogs did not consider) nor by the existence of tumors in the beginning stage, that were correctly reported by the dogs. The one-year interruption of the research work and the changes in the test environment did not induce statistically significant differences in the dogs' perceptive capacity. To our knowledge, so far, these issues have never been highlighted.
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18
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Concha AR, Guest CM, Harris R, Pike TW, Feugier A, Zulch H, Mills DS. Canine Olfactory Thresholds to Amyl Acetate in a Biomedical Detection Scenario. Front Vet Sci 2019; 5:345. [PMID: 30723722 PMCID: PMC6350102 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2018.00345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2018] [Accepted: 12/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Dogs' abilities to respond to concentrations of odorant molecules are generally deemed superior to electronic sensors. This sensitivity has been used traditionally in many areas; but is a more recent innovation within the medical field. As a bio-detection sensor for human diseases such as cancer and infections, dogs often need to detect volatile organic compounds in bodily fluids such as urine and blood. Although the limits of olfactory sensitivity in dogs have been studied since the 1960s, there is a gap in our knowledge concerning these limits in relation to the concentration of odorants presented in a fluid phase. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate olfactory detection thresholds to an inert substance, amyl acetate presented in a liquid phase. Ten dogs were trained in a “Go/No go” single scent-detection task using an eight-choice carousel apparatus. They were trained to respond to the presence of solutions of amyl acetate diluted to varying degrees in mineral oil by sitting in front of the positive sample, and not responding to the 7 other control samples. Training and testing took place in an indoor room with the same handler throughout using a food reward. After 30 weeks of training, using a forward chaining technique, dogs were tested for their sensitivity. The handler did not assist the dog during the search and was blind to the concentration of amyl acetate tested and the position of the target in the carousel. The global olfactory threshold trend for each dog was estimated by fitting a least-squares logistic curve to the association between the proportion of true positives and amyl acetate concentration. Results show an olfactory detection threshold for fluid mixtures ranging from 40 parts per billion to 1.5 parts per trillion. There was considerable inter-dog difference in sensitivity, even though all dogs were trained in the same way and worked without the assistance of the handler. This variation highlights factors to be considered in future work assessing olfactory detection performance by dogs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Astrid R Concha
- Animal Scent Detection Consultancy and Research, Santiago, Chile.,School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom
| | | | - Rob Harris
- Medical Detection Dogs, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas W Pike
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom
| | | | - Helen Zulch
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom.,Dog Trust, London, United Kingdom
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19
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Jezierski T, Dzięcioł M, Szumny A, Niżański W, Woszczyło M, Pieczewska B, Godzińska EJ. Discrimination of estrus odor in urine by male dogs in different experimental settings. J Vet Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jveb.2018.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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20
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Pleil J, Giese R. Integrating exhaled breath diagnostics by disease-sniffing dogs with instrumental laboratory analysis. J Breath Res 2017; 11:032001. [PMID: 28879861 DOI: 10.1088/1752-7163/aa79bc] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Dogs have been studied for many years as a medical diagnostic tool to detect a pre-clinical disease state by sniffing emissions directly from a human or an in vitro biological sample. Some of the studies report high sensitivity and specificity in blinded case-control studies. However, in these studies it is completely unknown as to which suites of chemicals the dogs detect and how they ultimately interpret this information amidst confounding background odors. Herein, we consider the advantages and challenges of canine olfaction for early (meaningful) detection of cancer, and propose an experimental concept to narrow the molecular signals used by the dog for sample classification to laboratory-based instrumental analysis. This serves two purposes; first, in contrast to dogs, analytical methods could be quickly up-scaled for high throughput sampling. Second, the knowledge gained from identifying probative chemicals could be helpful in learning more about biochemical pathways and disease progression. We focus on exhaled breath aerosol, arguing that the semi-volatile fraction should be given more attention. Ultimately, we conclude that the interaction between dog-based and instrument-based research will be mutually beneficial and accelerate progress towards early detection of cancer by breath analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joachim Pleil
- National Exposure Research Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, United States of America
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21
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22
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23
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Johnen D, Heuwieser W, Fischer-Tenhagen C. An approach to identify bias in scent detection dog testing. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2017.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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24
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25
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Rodionova EI, Kochevalina MY, Kotenkova EV, Morozova OV, Kogun’ GA, Bataeva EL, Ambaryan AV. Detection of volatile organic compounds associated with hepatocellular carcinoma by macrosmatic animals: Approaches to the search for new tumor markers. BIOL BULL+ 2015. [DOI: 10.1134/s1062359015030103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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26
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Jezierski T, Walczak M, Ligor T, Rudnicka J, Buszewski B. Study of the art: canine olfaction used for cancer detection on the basis of breath odour. Perspectives and limitations. J Breath Res 2015; 9:027001. [PMID: 25944810 DOI: 10.1088/1752-7155/9/2/027001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Experimental studies using trained dogs to identify breath odour markers of human cancer, published in the recent decade, have been analyzed and compared with the authors' own results. Particular published studies differ as regards the experimental setup, kind of odour samples (breath, urine, tumor tissue, serum), sample collection methods, dogs' characteristics and dog training methods as well as in results presented in terms of detection sensitivity and specificity. Generally it can be stated that trained dogs are able to distinguish breath odour samples typical for patients with lung cancer and other cancers from samples typical for healthy humans at a 'better than by chance' rate. Dogs' indications were positively correlated with content of 2-pentanone and ethyl acetate (r = 0.97 and r = 0.85 respectively) and negatively correlated with 1-propanol and propanal in breath samples (r = -0.98 and -0.87 respectively). The canine method has some advantages as a potential cancer-screening method, due to its non-invasiveness, simplicity of odour sampling and storage, ease of testing and interpretation of results and relatively low costs. Disadvantages and limitations of this method are related to the fact that it is still not known exactly to which chemical compounds and/or their combinations the dogs react. So far it could not be confirmed that dogs are able to sniff out early preclinical cancer stages with approximately the same accuracy as already diagnosed cases. The detection accuracy may vary due to failure in conditioning of dogs, decreasing motivation or confounding factors. The dogs' performance should be systematically checked in rigorous double-blind procedures. Recommendations for methodological standardization have been proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tadeusz Jezierski
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding of Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzębiec, O5-552 Magdalenka, Poland
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27
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Schallschmidt K, Becker R, Zwaka H, Menzel R, Johnen D, Fischer-Tenhagen C, Rolff J, Nehls I. In vitro cultured lung cancer cells are not suitable for animal-based breath biomarker detection. J Breath Res 2015; 9:027103. [PMID: 25667342 DOI: 10.1088/1752-7155/9/2/027103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
In vitro cultured lung cancer cell lines were investigated regarding the possible identification of volatile organic compounds as potential biomarkers. Gas samples from the headspace of pure culture medium and from the cultures of human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines A549 and Lu7466 were exposed to polypropylene fleece in order to absorb odour components. Sniffer dogs were trained with loaded fleeces of both cell lines, and honey bees were trained with fleeces exposed to A549. Afterwards, their ability to distinguish between cell-free culture medium odour and lung cancer cell odour was tested. Neither bees nor dogs were able to discriminate between odours from the cancer cell cultures and the pure culture medium. Solid phase micro extraction followed by gas chromatography with mass selective detection produced profiles of volatiles from the headspace offered to the animals. The profiles from the cell lines were largely similar; distinct differences were based on the decrease of volatile culture medium components due to the cells' metabolic activity. In summary, cultured lung cancer cell lines do not produce any biomarkers recognizable by animals or gas chromatographic analysis.
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28
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McCune S, Kruger KA, Griffin JA, Esposito L, Freund LS, Hurley KJ, Bures R. Evolution of research into the mutual benefits of human–animal interaction. Anim Front 2014. [DOI: 10.2527/af.2014-0022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Sandra McCune
- WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, Freeby Lane, Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, UK
| | - Katherine A. Kruger
- WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, Freeby Lane, Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, UK
- University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society (CIAS), Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - James A. Griffin
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Layla Esposito
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Lisa S. Freund
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
| | | | - Regina Bures
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
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Lazarowski L, Dorman DC. Explosives detection by military working dogs: Olfactory generalization from components to mixtures. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2013.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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