生物谷报道：子宫癌通常都是致命的，因为它往往只有在晚期时才能发现出来。一项新研究表明狗能嗅出人类早期的子宫癌。
科学家先前表明狗似乎能嗅出癌症。2004发表在《英国医学杂志》上的一项研究成果发现狗通过嗅人类的尿液可以发现膀胱癌。2006年发表在《整合癌症疗法》杂志上的一项小规模的研究成果发现，经过训练的狗可以发现肺癌和乳癌。而在此新研究中，研究人员训练狗来识别不同类型和不同时期的子宫癌。
研究人员发现，子宫癌的气味似乎不同于其它妇科癌症，如宫颈癌和子宫内膜癌。更重要的是，早期和低级子宫癌发出的气味和高级子宫癌的气味一样。此研究成果发表在6月刊的《整合癌症疗法》（Integrative Cancer Therapies）杂志上。作者在文章中写道：“我们的研究强有力地表明大多数普通子宫癌具有单种特殊的气味，经过训练的狗能识别出来。不过，我们认为狗不会用于临床应用中，因为它们在工作期间容易受影响，从而导致确诊率发生变化。而且，在受约束的环境下，它们还是可以用于实验应用中，以进一步探测这种有趣的新的癌症诊断办法。”
相对人类而言，狗鼻子的嗅觉细胞要敏感好几倍。它们自然能嗅出炸弹、毒品和埋藏的尸体。事实上，动物有许多惊人的能力，能感知人类不能察觉的事情。
此项研究是由瑞典哥德堡医学院的戈尔盖·霍瓦斯博士负责。《整合癌症疗法》杂志总编辑基思I.布鲁克说：“我认为此项研究价值很大，越来越多的人体研究表明这些经过训练的狗具有诊断本领。它们有能力可以发现与癌症有关的特殊气味，最终将成为一种有效诊断早期癌症的方法和工具，因此将来的癌症治愈比率将更高。”
子宫癌的死亡率是乳癌的3倍。此外，耶鲁医学院的研究人员今年2月进行的一项新血液检测发现子宫癌的准确率达99%。目前正在对此方法进行临床检测。（生物谷bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Integrative Cancer Therapies，Vol. 7, No. 2, 76-80 (2008)，György Horvath, Gunvor af Klinteberg Järverud, Sven Järverud, and István Horváth
Human Ovarian Carcinomas Detected by Specific Odor
György Horvath
Department of Oncology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden, gyorgy.horvath@oncology.gu.se
Gunvor af Klinteberg Järverud
Department of Oncology, Swedish Working Dog Club, Kode, Sweden
Sven Järverud
Department of Oncology, Swedish Working Dog Club, Kode, Sweden
István Horváth
Department of Oncology, Hungarian Working Dog Club, Dunaszekcsö, Hungary
The high mortality rate associated with ovarian carcinoma is mainly owing to late diagnosis. It is thus essential to develop inexpensive and simple methods for early diagnosis. Papers on canine scent detection of malignancies such as melanoma and bladder, lung, and breast cancer have recently been published in peer-reviewed journals, indicating a new diagnostic tool for malignancies. However, in these studies the dogs may have responded to odors associated with cancer, such as inflammation or metabolic products, rather than specifically to cancer itself. Therefore, it is important to ascertain whether or not human cancers are characterized by specific odors. We hypothesized that if ovarian carcinoma emits a specific odor, dogs may be trained to detect it. Using our training method, we taught a dog to distinguish different histopathological types and grades of ovarian carcinomas, including borderline tumors, from healthy control samples. Double-blind tests showed 100% sensitivity and 97.5% specificity. Moreover, the odor of ovarian carcinomas seems to differ from those of other gynecological malignances such cervical, endometrial, and vulvar carcinomas. Our study strongly suggests that the most common ovarian carcinomas are characterized by a single specific odor.
