E-Nose Sniffs Out Cancer for Quick, Painless Detection

A team of Israeli scientists has developed a breathalyzer that can diagnose and diffrentiate between at least four different common types of cancer. The devise, which uses nanotechnology, could revolutionize the detection and treatment of cancer.

According to the team's paper published this month in The British Journal of Cancer, cancer kills more than 7 million people annually worldwide. The most common cancers in the developed world, which cause half of all cancer deaths, are lung, colorectal, prostate and breast cancers. When cancer is localized and detected early, a patient's prognosis greatly impoves. Unfortunately, the symptoms of cancer often go unnoticed and the disease frequently is diagonosed at late or often fatal stages.

The new device, nicknamed an "electronic nose," is capable of distinguishing between the breath of a healthy person and a person with cancer. It can even distinguish between lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancers. The devise is especially promising because it is able to detect cancer before tumors become visible in X-rays.

The e-nose is equipped with cross-reactive nanosensors, made from an array of gold nanoparticles and gas chromatography. The nanosensor array is able to detect volatile organic compounds, gases emitted from cells due to the genetic and protein changes that cancer cause. "The analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are linked to cancer," the scientists write, "is a new frontier in medical diagnostics because it is non-invasive and potentially inexpensive."

In the study, researchers tested the breath of 177 participants, ranging in age from 20 to 75 and including both cancer patients and healthy volunteers. The results revealed that the e-nose is successful in diagnosing the presence of cancer and determining its type