'A dog is the only thing on the planet that knows what the smell of cancer is

Meet super-sniffers that spot tumours

- Hanna Geissler

IT took less than a second for Hetty to decide if a urine sample came from a patient with bowel cancer.

Moving swiftly down the line, she dismissed the first three with a sniff but stood to attention at the fourth.

Trainer Mark announces her indication then co-ordinator Steve confirms that the sample came from a patient at Hull NHS Trust with advanced stage four bowel cancer.

A clicker marks positive reinforcement and Hetty - a fox-red Labrador - is rewarded with a treat.

The six-year-old super-sniffer is in the latest class of pooches taught to identify the odour of disease by Medical Detection Dogs, and the Daily Express observed the charity's work at its Milton Keynes base.

A dog's sense of smell is up to a million times more powerful than a human's and Hetty is part of a team of six learning to identify the scent of bowel cancer.

Their efforts will initially confirm if it can be detected in human urine.

If so, data collected during the training could provide crucial insights into the compounds the dogs are smelling, which in turn could be targeted using diagnostic technology.