Frankie the dog 'sniffs out thyroid cancer'

[annie]

A dog has been used to sniff out thyroid cancer in people who had not yet been diagnosed, US researchers say.

Tests on 34 patients showed an 88% success rate in finding tumours.

The team, presenting their findings at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society, said the animal had an "unbelievable" sense of smell.

Cancer Research UK said using dogs would be impractical, but discovering the chemicals the dogs can smell could lead to new tests.

The thyroid is a gland in the neck that produces hormones to regulate metabolism.

Thyroid tumours are relatively rare and are normally diagnosed by testing hormone levels in the blood and by using a needle to extract cells for testing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31785245

[Rosalind]

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