Can you Smell Cancer?

Breath analyzers have been in this world for some time now and have found multiple uses. Based on the principle that different diseases cause different kinds of smells to emanate from the body, gave rise to the device called BREATH BIOPSY. It is a clinical device that is being used to find out if exhaled air contains molecules that might aid in detecting cancer. The Cancer Research UK team in Cambridge is undertaking a 2-year trial to study the utility of this device. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are molecules that get released when cells in the body carry out biochemical reactions as part of their behaviour. The normal behaviour of cells is altered in diseases and hence, different molecules get released in case the cells become malignant. Thus, a different signature smell is released.

The team is trying to determine if this pattern or odour can be in detected in people’s breath, using breath biopsy technology. The trial will initially begin with patients with suspected oesophageal and stomach cancers. Later, patients with prostate, kidney, bladder, liver and pancreatic cancers will also be included. Healthy persons are also a part of the trial and the results of the diseased and the healthy will later be used to expand the research and applications. This unique test might revolutionise the way we detect and diagnose cancer in the future