Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide and is often not diagnosed until late stages when it’s much more difficult to treat. Researchers are working a new test to make that diagnosis easier and earlier.
Metabolomx has developed a device which can detect signs of lung cancer in a patient’s breath.. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic just completed clinical trials on the test. Dr. Peter Mazzone led the study.
We found that we can be in the 80 to 85 percent accuracy range at detecting lung cancer from the breath signature, that we were a little more accurate if we looked for a specific type of lung cancer rather than lung cancer in general,” said Mazzone.
The test works by detecting specific biomarkers produced by the cancerous tumor.
“It’s a signature of the metabolic by products of growing cancer that is detectable in breath,” said Dr. Paul Rhodes, CEO of Metabolomx.
Experts said the five minute breath test is fast, safe and at just $75, affordable.
The test needs to be refined before it can be widely used.
“This was relatively a crude instrument with lots of room for improvement, so our hope is that the next generation of this sensor system can increase that accuracy beyond the 80 to 85 percent range to a point where it can be clinically useful,” said Mazzone.
If this breath test receives FDA approval, experts said the hope is it could initially be used with a CT scan to determine if a patient really needs a biopsy and eventually during regular check-ups for early detection.
Metabolomx is working on developing other tests using the same technology that may one day help detect colon cancer and tuberculosis.
Source: www.clickondetroit.com
