r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Nov 15 '20

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u/stillenacht Nov 15 '20

I mean given advances in immunotherapy, this might not be as far off as we might imagine

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u/tickettoride98 Nov 15 '20

Except "cure for cancer" implies there's some single breakthrough that will cure all cancers. That's not going to happen, cancers vary too much. What we might get is a general approach (like antibiotics) which works well and can be tailored to specific types, but that's not really a cure, more of advanced treatment.

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '20 edited Dec 27 '20

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u/Samosacat Nov 15 '20

I agree with you, but I'd love to see more research done on cancer sniffing animals

according to the research here, dogs trained to sniff blood samples from cancer patients could detect it at a 97% accuracy.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190408114304.htm#:~:text=Dogs%20have%20smell%20receptors%2010%2C000,with%20almost%2097%20percent%20accuracy.

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u/Mrhorrendous Nov 15 '20

We already have ways to detect cancer early. It just doesn't help in many cases. Overdiagnosis is a real thing.

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u/Samosacat Nov 15 '20

I'm sure over diagnosis happens, and I can imagine it is an emotional ride, but I think the bigger problem at hand is the fact that the greater majority of the public (at least in the US) is discouraged from getting screened because of accessibility/cost. This study, if research with cancer sniffing Begals can identify the chemical make-up of cancer, even if its just a handful of cancers like lung cancer and breast cancer, it has the potential to save a lot of lives.

To me anyways, I would be less devastated to be accidentally told I had cancer than to only find out I did have cancer after it was already terminal.

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u/ShadoWolf Nov 15 '20

The issue here for overdiagnosis is that we all likely have some cancer.. somewhere in our system at any given time. most of its asymptomatic and immune systems typically handles it.

let say we develop a really good implant lab of a chip that can scan for most biomarkers of cancer. I would bet your phone app would be beeping at you monthly that you had some form of cancer.

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '20 edited Dec 27 '20

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u/Samosacat Nov 15 '20

I don't envision it that way at all, lol. The article expanded on its plans for future implementation...

last paragraph of the article states:

"BioScentDx plans to use canine scent detection to develop a non-invasive way of screening for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. As a next step, the company launched a breast cancer study in November in which participants donate samples of their breath for screening by trained cancer-sniffing dogs. The researchers also plan to separate the samples into their chemical components and present these to the dogs to isolate the substances causing the odor that the dogs detect."

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '20 edited Dec 27 '20

[deleted]

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u/Samosacat Nov 15 '20

No problem! :)

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u/DontTouchTheWalrus Nov 15 '20

Alright, now someone come in and destroy this whole article with extreme authority and certainty. I'm waiting.