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Mesothelioma: A Killer
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Dogs sniff out bladder cancer
Last Updated: 2004-09-24 12:12:43 -0400 (Reuters Health)
LONDON (Reuters Health) - The acute sense of smell that makes dogs useful for detecting illegal substances at airports might also be used to help doctors diagnosis bladder cancer, researchers reported this week in the British Medical Journal.
Carolyn Willis, from Amersham Hospital in the UK and colleagues report a "proof-of-principle" study showing that dogs can be trained to detect bladder cancer by "smelling" urine.
The authors note that bladder tumors produce volatile organic compounds. "Some of these organic compounds are likely to have distinctive odours; even when present in minute quantities, they could be detectable by dogs."
To test this, they used urine samples from 36 patients with bladder cancer, which were compared with108 samples from diseased and healthy individuals; 63 of the samples were used exclusively in final testing of the dogs.
The authors trained six dogs of different breeds for 7 months to discriminate between urine from patients with bladder cancer and urine from those without cancer. Two dogs were trained with dried urine and the remainder with liquid specimens.
After training, each dog was offered seven urine samples--one bladder cancer sample and six comparison samples from individuals of the same sex. The dogs identified their chosen sample by lying next to it.
Each dog underwent the test nine times. Altogether, the dogs correctly selected bladder cancer urine on 22 out of 54 occasions, an average success rate of 41% compared to 14% expected by chance alone.
"Despite the fact that we had not used dogs with proved scenting abilities, and despite the inclusion of age matched diseased controls, we achieved a statistically significant success rate," the authors write. "Our study provides the first piece of experimental evidence to show that dogs can detect cancer by olfactory means more successfully than would be expected by chance alone."
"The results we achieved should provide a benchmark against which future studies can be compared, and it is to be hoped that our approach to training may assist others engaged in similar work."
Commenting on the paper, statistician Tim Cole from the Institute of Child Health in London notes that the study was carefully designed. "On balance the results are unambiguous," he writes in an accompanying commentary. "Dogs can be trained to recognise and flag an unusual smell in the urine of bladder cancer patients."
The urine sample from one comparison subject was consistently identified as positive for bladder cancer by the dogs, he notes. Although cystoscopy and ultrasound results were negative, the consultant tested the subject again--and found a kidney carcinoma.
SOURCE: British Medical Journal. September 24, 2004.
Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
AIDS up 6 percent in South Africa
Last Updated: 2004-09-23 10:11:34 -0400 (Reuters Health)
CAPE TOWN , South Africa (Reuters) - The number of South Africans carrying the virus that causes AIDS rose in 2003 but the rate of infection especially among teenagers was stabilizing, the government said in a report released Thursday.
The Department of Health estimated that 5.6 million of the country's 45 million population carried HIV, the virus that causes AIDS -- up 6 percent from 5.3 million in 2002.
South Africa , the continent's economic powerhouse, has more people living with HIV/AIDS than any other country in the world, with hundreds of thousands dead.
"The findings of the 2003 antenatal survey show that the HIV prevalence rates remain high in South Africa," the department said, adding data suggested the epidemic was "slowly stabilizing."
The government report found about 100,000 babies contracted the virus from their mothers in 2003, or more than 260 a day. About 28 percent of pregnant women were HIV positive, up from 26.5 percent in 2002, the report said.
The department said while infections continued to increase, rates were leveling off.
"Stability observed particularly among teenagers and the non-significant difference between the national figures for HIV prevalence for 2002 to 2003 all point to an epidemic in stabilization phase," the report said.
The report found HIV prevalence was highest in the 25-to-29 age group, while there was a marginal increase in infections among people younger than 20, considered to be the best barometer of the infection rate.
South African President Thabo Mbeki's government announced last year it would provide life-prolonging antiretrovirals in the public health sector after long resisting activists' pressure to roll-out the drugs.
The state is targeting 53,000 people to be on treatment by March next year, but a shortage of drugs and poor infrastructure is hampering distribution. The department said an estimated 3.1 million women carried the virus compared to 2.4 million men in South Africa.
The report was based on a study of prevalence of HIV and syphilis among pregnant women attending antenatal care in the public health system in October 2003, and used a sample of 16,643.
Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
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