Hemangiosarcoma is a cancer of cells that line blood vessels and is a common cancer in dogs. Known as the “silent killer,” it often progresses undetected. Dreamstime via TNS

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If you have ever had a dog affected by hemangiosarcoma, you know how horrible it is.

Hemangiosarcoma is a cancer of cells that line blood vessels and is a common cancer in dogs. Known as the “silent killer,” it often progresses undetected. It usually develops in the heart or spleen, with the first signs being internal bleeding or collapse. Once your dog reaches that stage, treatment options are limited, and the prognosis is poor.

Like many cancers, scientists are working to find treatments or even a cure. But in the absence of those, some researchers — including Dr. Cynthia Otto and her team at the PennVet Working Dog Center — are looking into other methods that could improve outcomes for dogs with hemangiosarcoma, such as a way to detect that a dog has the cancer before its situation is dire.

Andrew Abdel-Malik lost his beloved dog, Biggie, to hemangiosarcoma, he told the AKC Canine Health Foundation in May. With a playful personality and a heart full of love, Biggie was more than a pet — she was family.

One day, after a normal walk, she became suddenly lethargic. A ruptured tumor on her spleen had caused internal bleeding. Emergency surgery saved her life — for the moment — but she was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma and was given just one to three months to live. Biggie beat the odds and lived another four months, even joining Andrew on vacation for his 40th birthday.

“I think the hardest part was learning there was nothing I could do for her,” Andrew told CHF. “If there had been a test … anything … we would’ve done it.”

Dr. Otto and her team, finalists for the Canine Health Discovery of the Year Award for a different research breakthrough, have been exploring the potential for a new method of early detection to help dogs like Biggie: training biodetection dogs to sniff out hemangiosarcoma. You may have heard about biodetection dogs, or seen them in action, before. Put simply: Dogs’ noses are extraordinary.

Many cancers emit distinct odors called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) through a dog’s or person’s bodily secretions — like sweat, skin oils, breath, urine and feces. Trained biodetection dogs have demonstrated their ability and are sometimes used to detect human cancers using their sense of smell, including melanoma, lung cancer and prostate cancer. Research has shown they’re even capable of sniffing out bacterial and viral infections and neurological diseases.

Dr. Otto’s team used blood serum samples from dogs with hemangiosarcoma to test the research dogs’ ability to sniff out a difference between those samples and control samples, which included samples from healthy dogs and dogs with other diseases. The results were promising!

The PennVet Working Dog Center team reported that five trained dogs were able to tell the difference between the HSA samples and the control samples, across more than 400 trials.

While still preliminary, meaning these results need much more testing before they’re put into action, this is great evidence for the possibility of earlier detection of the deadliest canine cancer. And with earlier detection comes the hope for earlier intervention, hopefully creating better outcomes for the dogs we love.

To learn more about canine health research and how you can join a mission of improving the lives of all dogs, or even support work like Dr. Otto’s, visit akcchf.org.