Loss of Soroptimist International Waimea members to ovarian cancer has led the group to fetch a presentation by a trust who doggedly pursue better health outcomes through earlier cancer diagnosis.
Dunedin-based K9 Medical Detection NZ (K9MD) uses the noses of trained labradors and German shepherds to detect various cancers in urine by identifying specific volatile compounds released by cancer cells.
Its founder and top dog, Pauline Blomfield, will speak at Whakatū Presbyterian Church on Saturday, 31 October, outlining the science behind the programme, and provide some wee details about the trust’s latest research to develop a non-invasive urine test for ovarian cancer detection.
She will also discuss the “critical importance” of contributions from the Nelson region to support the second stage of the project.
Soroptimist International Waimea member Annette Smith says, while the dogs won’t be travelling, she hopes the public will have a nose to learn about K9MD’s potentially lifesaving work.
The event is also part of Soroptimist New Zealand's ongoing project to reduce the impact of ovarian cancer.
"Ovarian cancer is what I call a sneaky disease, it is just one of those things that you don't really know you've got until it's too late, and that's what's happened to the members of our club that have died," Annette says.
"They just feel a bit off colour, and it's hard to get a diagnosis, but with the dogs who are dealing with the urine samples it's a much earlier thing.
"The main thing is to get the message out about how efficient the dogs are and the fact that it's non-invasive, because most of the testing at the moment is pretty invasive.”
Doors open at 9:30am for a 10am start. Tickets are $10, a price Annettee says has been kept affordable so the public don’t have to pay through the nose to attend.
To pre-purchase tickets, contact anneez2604@gmail.com. Tickets will also be available at the door.
