Medical researchers with the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Denver have developed a prototype device that uses a gold nanoparticle sensor that can tell whether exhaled breath has come from a patient with lung cancer, as well as whether the malignancy is in early or advanced stages.
 

A study of the new device — led by Fred R. Hirsch, professor of medical oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine – was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology in Chicago this week, Medical News Today reports. 

Editor’s Note: 5 Things Start Cancer in Your Organs
 

Hirsch said a breath test for lung cancer could "totally revolutionize lung cancer screening and diagnosis. The perspective here is the development of a non-traumatic, easy, cheap approach to early detection and differentiation of lung cancer."

Hirsch explained that the metabolism of people with lung cancer is different to that of healthy people and this is reflected in the chemical signature of their breath. As a result, it is possible to differentiate among people with lung cancer, healthy individuals, and also those with other lung conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
 

The new device requires people to blow up a balloon that is then connected to a very sensitive sensor that traps and analyzes the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the exhaled breath. Tests of the device included 358 patients in Israel, Denver, and Florida – 213 of whom were lung cancer patients, including 62 with early stage and 143 with advanced stage disease. The other 145 patients did not have cancer.
 

Results of the tests showed that the device could distinguish between COPD and lung cancer (accuracy of 85 percent), COPD and advanced lung cancer (accuracy of 82 percent), and early and advanced lung cancer (accuracy of 79 percent).