A recent study in Austria has revealed an interestingly shocking fact. Dogs are able to identify lung cancer, it said.

Dr. Peter Errhalt said dogs are successful in indentifying lung cancer patients. Errhalt is head of pulmonology department at Krems hospital in northern Austria and was also one of the researchers involved in the study.

The study involved breath sample from 120 patients and the dogs could easily identify lung cancer in 70% cases. It asserted that dogs are quite clever and are already known for their smelling abilities. They have proved adept in figuring out lung cancer merely by getting exposed to breath from lung cancer patient.

The study, however, doesn't mean that the dogs will be kept at hospitals to make the diagnosis. It will rather identify, what scent in the breath made the dogs identify the disease, said Michael Mueller from the Otto Wagner Hospital in Vienna, who was involved in the project.

"Dogs have no problem identifying tumor patients", said Errhalt, while he deemed the discovery as "encouraging". The findings suggest scientists about developing some kind of "electric nose" that can function like that of dogs' and easily help in recognizing cancer at the early stages.