Cancer detected in exhaled breath

Lung cancer may be detected in patients by testing their exhaled breath, show findings presented at the 2013 CHEST Conference in Chicago.

In the study, 82 people with lung cancer and 155 people at risk of lung cancer had their breath tested using a highly sensitive chemical sensor, known as colorimetric sensor array.

In this test colours show if specific chemicals are present, with the colours changing when the chemicals indicating cancer are present. This test correctly identified between the people with cancer and those without cancer.

“We believe that cancer cells release a unique chemical signature related to the tumor-growing process,” said Peter J. Mazzone, director of the lung cancer program for the Respiratory Institute at Cleveland Clinic. “We are currently developing a breath-based test based on the results of our research.”

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