Could Bladder Cancer Be Detected Through 'Scent'? (Video)

A new study suggests that it may actually be possible to test for bladder cancer from certain odors found in urine according to British researchers.

This technique, which was inspired by reports about how dogs may be able to sniff out certain cancers, could be a more effective and less costly method to detect and treat serious disease.

"It is thought that dogs can smell cancer, but this is obviously not a practical way for hospitals to diagnose the disease," said Norman Ratcliffe, from the Institute of Biosensor Technology at UWE Bristol, via a press release. "Taking this principle, however, we have developed a device that can give us a profile of the odor in urine. It reads the gases that chemicals in the urine can give off when the sample is heated."

According to researchers from the University of Liverpool and University of the West of England, about 72,000 new cases of bladder cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States (10,000 new each year in the United Kingdom) and smoking plays a great factor in the culprit of many of these cancers.

"It is a disease that, if caught early, can be treated effectively, but unfortunately we do not have any early screening methods other than diagnosis through urine tests at the stage when it starts to become a problem," said Chris Probert, a professor at the University of Liverpool's Institute of Translational Medicine.

This new device that could help detect the cancerous scents is known as ODORREADER and contains a sensor that responds to chemicals in gas emitted from urine, according to the study.

The sensor works by analyzing the gases found in the liquid and reports on the chemicals contained. Scientists can then read on a computer screen in order to diagnose cancer of the bladder.

The researchers looked at 98 samples of urine and tested it out on 24 patient participants known to have cancers and 74 who had urological problems.

"The device correctly assigned 100 percent of cancer patients," Probert said.

Now researchers are hoping to expand trials to a wider selection sample of patients and determine if this would be an effective device to use in hospitals, according to the study.

More information regarding the study findings can be found in the journal PLoS ONE. 

Want to find out how the device works? Check out this video, courtesy of YouTube.