Steve Brine visited Milton Keynes on Tuesday 13th February as he met the team at Medical Detection Dogs.
While a dog's brain is only one-tenth the size of a human brain, the part that controls smell is 40 times larger than in humans.　 A dog's sense of smell (depending on the breed) is about 1,000 to 10,000,000 times more sensitive than a human's.
With this exceptional sense of smell, dogs can detect the minute odours now understood to be associated with many cancers.　 Specialist dogs trained to detect cancer volatiles can provide valuable information that will assist in the development of new ways to detect and diagnose cancer.
Steve Brine, who visited the centre within his role as Public Health Minister, said: "Science and medicine are now turning to the dogs to find out what they actually smell when they detect early stage cancer.　 Research has shown that machines are not nearly as sensitive as a dog's nose.　 There are machines that can identify explosives, but dogs are still preferred over the machines, as they are far more accurate.
"The 'e-nose' for cancer will eventually be a reality, but for now, dogs are doing a near perfect job at detecting early stage cancer.　 I am hugely grateful to the team, both human and canine, for meeting with me today, and I wish them all the best as they continue to develop this very exciting work."
Pictured; Steve Brine and some of the team at Medical Detection Dogs.
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