Cancer is a devastating disease that affects millions of people around the world. One of the biggest challenges in fighting cancer is detecting it early, before it has a chance to spread and become more difficult to treat. While many diagnostic tools exist, some of the most promising new methods involve using animals to detect the presence of cancer.

You may have heard of dogs being trained to sniff out cancer. But did you know that other animals, including worms and ants, can also be trained to detect the markers of cancer?

So what does cancer smell like, exactly? Scientists have discovered that cancer cells produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can have a unique odor. By training animals to detect these VOCs, researchers hope to develop new diagnostic tools that can detect cancer in its early stages.

Dogs are perhaps the most well-known cancer detectors. Studies have shown that they can detect lung, breast, ovarian, and other types of cancer with a high degree of accuracy. Trained dogs have been able to identify cancer cells with 98% accuracy in some cases.

But dogs aren't the only animals with a nose for cancer.

Read More