Cancer-sniffing ants? This is the astonishing discovery made by a French research team, after studying a species, Formica fusca. This would be able to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by cancer cells.
- For several years, the Institut Curie has been conducting a promising study on canine sense of smell and breast cancer screening.
- The clinical study, called K-DOG, follows 450 female volunteers, thanks to the involvement of three dogs that detect breast cancer early.
Several studies have already demonstrated the incredible ability of certain breeds of dogs to detect malignant tumors in their owner. But another animal species could well compete with them… Ants!
This is highlighted by a new French study published in the journal IScience. According to its authors, attached to the CNRS of the Sorbonne Paris Nord University, to the Curie Institute and to Inserm, the species formica fusca would have a very developed sense of smell that it would be possible to exercise in detecting cancerous cells.
An olfactory memory at the service of cancer screening
To determine if the ants formica fusca were the future of early cancer detection, the scientists began by exposing 36 ants to a sample of human cancer cells, a sample they later paired with a sugar solution reward. The ants were then exposed to two different smells: that of cancerous tumors and another smell.
The results of this second experiment showed that the ants were able to differentiate the two odors, but also to find the one associated with the reward. According to the study authors, “ants distinguish between cancerous and healthy cells and between two cancerous lineages”.
A method that must be clinically tested
According to the authors of the study, it is the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by cancer cells that formica fusca are able to track. According to the CNRS, “this first study shows the high potential of ants, capable of learning very quickly, at a lower cost, while being efficient”.
However, the authors of the study emphasize the need to evaluate this method “thanks to clinical tests on a complete human organism”. If the results are conclusive, however, it could become a valuable tool for early detection. Because, unlike dogs who must undergo training for several months to detect tumors, “Insects can be easily bred under controlled conditions, they are inexpensive, they have a highly developed olfactory system, and hundreds of individuals can be conditioned with very little testing”, say the authors.
.
