Testing a patient’s breath for nanoparticles could detect stomach cancer, researchers say today.
Professor Hossam Haick of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel, and colleagues examined breath samples from 130 people with a range of different stomach symptoms, or stomach cancers. Endoscopy/biopsy was carried out to confirm the diagnoses.
Sensors that could detect very small particles on a nano scale (from about one to 100 nanometres) could differentiate between stomach cancers and more benign conditions with over 90 per cent accuracy. The test could also tell apart early and late stage cancers.
The study is published in the British Journal of Cancer today (6 March). Professor Haick and his team explain that the sensors detected "biomarkers", or chemical profiles that identified recurring patterns in people with the same type of stomach condition.
"The promising findings from this early study suggest that using a breath test to diagnose stomach cancers, as well as more benign complaints, could be a future alternative to endoscopies – which can be costly and time consuming, as well as unpleasant to the patient," said Professor Haick.
But he added: "These results are at an early stage and support the concept of a breath test to detect stomach cancers but further validations are needed. Indeed, we’re already building on the success of this study with a larger-scale clinical trial."
If this sort of test is found to be accurate enough, it could present a new possibility for screening the population for stomach cancer, hopefully leading to earlier diagnosis, the team believe.
"Any test that could help diagnose stomach cancers earlier would make a difference to patients’ long-term survival," commented Kate Law of Cancer Research UK.
Xu, Z et al. A Nanomaterial-based breath Test for Distinguishing Gastric Cancer from Benign Gastric Conditions. British Journal of Cancer 6 March 2013 doi: 10.1038/bjc.2013.44
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