News Gunma trains dogs to sniff out cancer

[thomas]

Gunma Prefecture is allocating 124 million JPY to a project to train dogs that can sniff out human diseases, such as cancer. The prefectural government plans to support doctors and scientists who engage in such research for three years from fiscal 2023. Although studies on cancer-detection dogs have been carried out worldwide, the research has never been put into practical use. Gunma intends to become the first to do so.

According to the prefectural government, sickness-detection canines, working like drug-sniffing dogs, can determine whether individuals are ill based on the smell of their exhaled air and urine. [...] Researchers will study disease specimens provided by medical institutes. The prefecture expects to train two canines from the Labrador Retriever and other breeds known for their high concentration levels. Research on such dogs has been carried out in Finland and Britain. In Japan, Kaneyama town in Yamagata Prefecture funded a similar program in fiscal 2017 and 2018.

Gunma moves ahead on project to train dogs to sniff out diseases | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis