Every Breath You Take?

Yet another cancer-detection technology? After 15 years of development, Imperial College London scientists are carrying out the final clinical trials for a breath test for digestive tract cancers. Patients with a suspected cancer, would simply have to breath into a bag (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jun/04/uk-trials-for-cancer-breath-tests-reach-final-stages). The technology depends on volatile gut compounds changing as a cancer develops. Some volatiles increase and others decrease. The pattern is different, depending on the location of the tumour. The scientists are concentrating on 15 volatile chemicals. These are collected by the subject breathing into a bag. Subsequently, the volatiles are absorbed on special columns, before being analysed using a mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer is a device that determines the constituents of chemical mixtures, by virtue of their varying weights. It can measure very tiny concentrations of volatiles. The pattern can pinpoint whether the tumour is in the duodenum, the lower bowel or, perhaps, even in the liver. This is potentially a very useful and non-invasive diagnostic technology. Digestive tract cancers account for circa 20% of the total.