title: A non-invasive tool for detecting cervical cancer odor by trained scent dogs.
abstract: Cervical Cancer (CC) has become a public health concern of alarming proportions in many developing countries such as Mexico, particularly in low income sectors and marginalized regions. As such, an early detection is a key medical factor in improving not only their population's quality of life but also its life expectancy. Interestingly, there has been an increase in the number of reports describing successful attempts at detecting cancer cells in human tissues or fluids using trained (sniffer) dogs. The great odor detection threshold exhibited by dogs is not unheard of. However, this represented a potential opportunity to develop an affordable, accessible, and non-invasive method for detection of CC.
  
  
  
  Using clicker training, a male beagle was trained to recognize CC odor. During training, fresh CC biopsies were used as a reference point. Other samples used included cervical smears on glass slides and medical surgical bandages used as intimate sanitary pads by CC patients. A double-blind procedure was exercised when testing the beagle's ability to discriminate CC from control samples.
  
  
  
  The beagle was proven able to detect CC-specific volatile organic compounds (VOC) contained in both fresh cervical smear samples and adsorbent material samples. Beagle's success rate at detecting and discriminating CC and non-CC odors, as indicated by specificity and sensitivity values recorded during the experiment, stood at an overall high (>90%). CC-related VOC in adsorbent materials were detectable after only eight hours of use by CC patients.
  
  
  
  Present data suggests different applications for VOC from the uterine cervix to be used in the detection and diagnosis of CC. Furthermore, data supports the use of trained dogs as a viable, affordable, non-invasive and, therefore, highly relevant alternative method for detection of CC lesions. Additional benefits of this method include its quick turnaround time and ease of use while remaining highly accurate and robust.
authors.affiliation: Coordinación de Prevención y Atención a la Salud, Delegación Sur (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) IMSS, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guerrero-Flores
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Apresa-García
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Braquiterapia, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN-SXXI-IMSS, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Ónix
authors.initials: Ó
authors.lastname: Garay-Villar
authors.affiliation: PEC de México, S.A. de C.V., Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Pérez
authors.affiliation: PEC de México, S.A. de C.V., Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Flores-Villegas
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Oncología, Hospital General de Zona y de Medicina Familiar No. 5, IMSS, Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico.
authors.forename: Artfy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bandera-Calderón
authors.affiliation: Clínica de la Mujer y Medicina Perinatal, Col. Roma Norte, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: García-Palacios
authors.affiliation: Centro Colposcópico de Docencia e Investigación, A.C., Mexico, City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Teresita
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rojas-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Romero-Morelos
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Albor
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Osvaldo
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mata
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arana-Conejo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Anatomía Patológica, Hospital General de Zona Troncoso, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Badillo-Romero
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marrero-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mendoza-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Esquivel
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Huerta-Padilla
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martínez-Castillo
authors.affiliation: Coordinación de Prevención y Atención a la Salud, Delegación Sur (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) IMSS, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Irma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hernández-Gallardo
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: López-Romero
authors.affiliation: División de Neurociencias, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación (INR), Secretaría de Salud (S.S.), Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bandala
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Química, Universidad La Salle, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosales-Guevara
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Oncología Genómica, Unidad de Investigación Médica en Enfermedades Oncológicas, UMAE Hospital de Oncología, CMN- SXXI-IMSS, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauhtémoc, 06720, Mexico City, Mexico. maosal89@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salcedo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D004285:Dogs; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor