HEALTH REPORT - Study Says Dogs Can Smell Cancer

HEALTH REPORT - Study Says Dogs Can Smell Cancer
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, October 06, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Dogs are known for their sense of smell. They can find missing¹ people and things like bombs and illegal drugs. Now a study suggests that the animal known as man's best friend can even find bladder cancer.

Cancer cells are thought to produce chemicals with unusual odors². Researchers think dogs have the ability to smell these odors, even in very small amounts, in urine. The sense of smell in dogs is thousands of times better than in humans.

The study follows reports of cases where, for example, a dog showed great interest in a growth on the leg of its owner. The mole³ was later found to be skin cancer.

Carolyn Willis led a team of researchers at Amersham Hospital in England. They trained different kinds of dogs for the experiment. The study involved urine collected from bladder cancer patients, from people with other diseases⁵ and from healthy people.

Each dog was tested eight times. In each test there were seven samples for the dogs to smell. The dog was supposed to signal the one from a bladder cancer patient by lying down next to it.

Two cocker spaniels were correct fifty-six percent of the time. But the scientists reported an average success rate of forty-one percent.

As a group, the study found that the dogs chose the correct sample twenty-two out of fifty-four times. That is almost three times more often than would be expected by chance alone.

The British Medical Journal⁶ published the research. In all, thirty-six bladder cancer patients and one hundred eight other people took part.

During training, all the dogs reportedly even identified a cancer in a person who had tested healthy before the study. Doctors found a growth on the person's right kidney⁷.

Carolyn Willis says dogs could help scientists identify the compounds⁸ produced by bladder cancer. That information could then be used to develop machines to test for the chemicals. Now, doctors must remove tissue⁹ from the bladder to test for cancer. The team also plans to use dogs to help identify markers for other kinds of cancer.

Bladder cancer is the ninth most common cancer worldwide. The International Agency¹⁰ for Research on Cancer says this disease⁴ kills more than one hundred thousand people each year. Doctors say cigarette smoking is the leading cause of bladder cancer.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Gwen Outen.

1 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

2 odors   

气味，名声( odor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The garden was a fairyland of beautiful flowers and sweet odors. 那座花园是个繁花似锦、香气袭人的仙境。
• Cooking odors can circulate throughout the entire house. 做饭的香味可以传到家里的各个角落。

3 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

4 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

5 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

6 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。

7 kidney   

n.肾，腰子，类型

参考例句：

• Several of the patients had received kidney transplant.病人中有几位已接受了肾移植手术。
• The operation to transplant a kidney is now fairly routine.肾脏移植手术如今已相当常见。

8 compounds   

n.场地( compound的名词复数 )；复合物；（筑有围墙的）院子；复合词v.调和( compound的第三人称单数 )；使混合；使严重；调停

参考例句：

• Nouns join to form compounds. 名词和名词结合构成复合词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That simply compounds the offence. 那只会加重罪过。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 tissue   

n.组织；薄纱，薄纸，手巾纸

参考例句：

• As we age we lose muscle tissue.肌肉组织会随着我们日趋衰老而萎缩。
• Athletes have hardly any fatty tissue.运动员几乎没有什么脂肪组织。

10 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。