Can dogs detect cancer?

When I saw this headline, I was expecting some really wacky information. But, then I thought about the dogs who can detect seizures, search for bombs, durgs and bodies and thought, hmmmmmmmm...

Dogs have heightened senses that we can't even begin to understand. Dogs are much more than man's best furry friend theses day.
This could be a great find:

A little-known clinic has made a big claim: It has trained five dogs--three Labradors and two Portuguese water dogs--to detect lung cancer in the breath of cancer sufferers with 99 percent accuracy.

The study was based on well-established concepts. It has been known since the 1980s that tumors exude alkanes and benzene derivatives not found in healthy tissue.

Other researchers have shown that dogs, whose noses can pick up odors in the low parts-per-billion range, can be trained to detect skin cancers or react differently to dried urine from healthy people and those with bladder cancer--but never with such consistency.

www.chicagotribune.com...

Additional sources of the same research, in the vent a link goes bad:
www.healthcentral.com...
www.nytimes.com...
news.nationalgeographic.com...
www.marinij.com...
www.healthscout.com...

I heard about this a couple of years ago on some science shows. Sounds like a great idea but I think only some dogs can do it. They have to be trained for the scent. I think they should offer this service for people who want a second opinion.... I know I trust my dog more than I trust some doctors

Oh, sure, not every dog is qualified. I would think it would be breeds with known abilities in the sense of smell. Tracking and hunting dogs.

Although even my mixed breed dog was able to sense when I was ill. But, that has more to do with the closeness between dog and master than some trainable attribute.