Early detection of cancer is an ongoing quest because the earlier cancer is caught, the easier it is to treat, and the greater a patient’s chance for positive health outcomes. In an ideal world, people would know they have cancer before they exhibit any symptoms. While blood tests, known as multi-detection tests, are being marketed as early-detection tools, more research is needed before they receive FDA approval and are eligible for insurance reimbursement. There are also other, perhaps less mainstream, approaches to finding cancer sooner, including: dogs’ abilities to sniff out cancer. 

But another unexpected (but related) area receiving attention and research funding is breath-based cancer detection.

What is breath-based cancer detection?

Cancer can alter a person’s metabolism and cellular processes, which can lead to the production of distinct chemical signatures emitted through exhaled breath. Our breath contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—tiny molecules released into the blood and exhaled via the lungs. Cancer can change the type, concentration, or pattern of these VOCs. This is due to a number of reasons, because cancer tumors can cause:

• An abnormal metabolism
• Oxidative stress
• Inflammation
• Changes to the gut or lung microbiome

These changes within our bodies can generate unique VOC profiles–not just one molecule, but a pattern. Thus, the patterns of our breath biomarkers are what make it possible for breath-based tests to evaluate people for the presence of cancer.

How does a breath-based cancer test work?

A person breathes into a device (e.g. a bag, tube, or sensor system) and the device then analyzes VOCs using scientific measurement technologies such as:

• Mass spectrometry
• Gas chromatography
• Sensor arrays 
• AI/ML pattern recognition (artificial intelligence and machine learning)

Scientists can then assess the patterns, looking for signs of cancer.

Consider this effort underway at the University of Texas at Dallas: researchers there are working on a biosensor that, combined with AI analysis, can detect the presence of lung cancer. The team in Dallas tested their device on 67 breath samples, including 30 samples from patients with a confirmed case of lung cancer. The device was able to detect the presence of cancer 90% of the time. 

Recently, there’s also been an emphasis on funding for both at-home breath and urine tests for early detection. If successful, this research could play a role in low-cost screening for more than 30 cancer types. It’s exciting to envision a world where barriers to early detection are removed, and catching cancer early could be as simple as an at-home breath test.

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