Breath Test to Detect Lung Cancer

Scientists have known that there are certain chemical changes that happen in a person's breath when they acquire lung cancer. Now, by detecting the presence of these chemicals, non-invasively, through a simple breath test, they will be able to detect lung cancer in patients. Chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are produced by lung cancer cells and these compounds are then breathed out. What the new machine, which is about the size of a U.S quarter dollar, will do is that it will detect these VOCs and through a similar reaction as in the pH strips, the presence or absence of VOCs will change the color of the strip on the machine, and thus confirm or deny the presence of lung cancer in the patient being tested. During the current research, about seventy five percent of patients with lung cancer were confirmed using this method, and in some cases, even the early stages of lung cancer were detected through this technique. This detection method may be crucial in helping detect early stages of lung cancer in patients because it is fairly difficult to treat it during the late stages. Also, the inexpensive cost to build and supply this small hand-held machine will prove as a useful weapon in the battle against lung cancer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6387773.stm

I thought that this article was very interesting in that it really shows that there are many advances in the detection of different types of cancer. I think that it is amazing that a simple reaction was used to change color, just like a pH strip, to accurately detect presence of lung cancer.