Kate noticed it before any blood test.
No matter how often she washed her clothes and sheets, a strange smell would not go away: something resembling a hangover mixed with wet wood and a hint of cinnamon. She mentioned it to her doctor almost as a hunch, and the tests confirmed non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After treatment, both the cancer and the smell disappeared, until months later they both returned — this time due to thyroid cancer.
She is not the only one who claims to have smelled the disease before diagnosis: others describe a sweet, fermented aroma, like sourdough starter. Science is still debating whether the human sense of smell can detect cancer, but it does confirm that cancer cells release volatile organic compounds that alter body odor, and that trained dogs can identify them with up to 98% accuracy. Kate believes she has a bloodhound’s nose. She may not be so wrong.
