One in two people will get cancer in their lifetimes.
Globally, lung cancer is the most common cancer in the world with over 2 million diagnoses estimated in 2020. If detected early, the chance of surviving cancer is ten times higher, and the cost of treatment is ten times lower than in the later stages. Therefore, developing new early cancer detection methods is the best way to improve cancer survival.
Our breath test developed to enable lung cancer early detection is currently being tested in a phase 2 clinical trial and involves the use of an Exogenous Volatile Organic Compound (EVOC®) Probe administered from outside the body to target specific cancer pathways. Our work suggests that almost 90% of Stage I lung cancers can be targeted, with the potential to have a transformative effect on lung cancer detection.
Breath offers a unique roster of potential biomarkers arising from metabolic pathways in the body that may be disrupted in cancer, that can be collected completely non-invasively. This makes breath an advantageous biomarker matrix to study in comparison to more expensive, more invasively acquired samples such as tissue biopsies that are difficult to tolerate.
Case Studies
A detailed look at some of the research studies investigating biomarkers for different types of cancer.
Distinguishing COPD from lung cancer in a large cohort study
Identifying breath biomarkers for colorectal cancer
FURTHER READING
Other recommended reading:
- NEWS: BBC’s ‘Look East’ news program featured Owlstone Medical’s latest trial, a Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for breath-based lung cancer detection using a metabolic probe targeting tumor specific extracellular β-glucuronidase.
- PRESENTATION: A Pragmatic Approach For Lung Cancer Screening Using Exhaled Breath In A Clinical Setting. – Dr. Pedro Vaz at BBCon 2023
- PAPER: Chemical signature of colorectal cancer, case–control study for profiling the breath print – Researchers at University Aldo Moro of Bari identify VOCs with discriminatory ability in detecting patients with colorectal cancer.
- PAPER: Relationship between cancer tissue derived and exhaled volatile organic compound from colorectal cancer patients.
- ARTICLE: Breath test for cancer: biomarker screening is underway – Michele Wilson from Technology Networks looks into the breath research field and its potential to act as a diagnostic tool.
- REVIEW: The potential of breath analysis to improve outcome for patients with lung cancer.
- ARTICLE: The Pathologist looks at breath biomarkers – An article summarising the use of breath for early detection and precision medicine.
- PRESENTATION: Progress in the Development of a Breath Biopsy Test for the Early Detection of Lung Cancer; The LuCID and Evolution Studies. Dr. Robert Rintoul at BBCon 2023.
- PAPER: A novel non-invasive exhaled breath biopsy for the diagnosis and screening of breast cancer.
- PAPER: Exploring Volatile Organic Compounds in Breath for High-Accuracy Prediction of Lung Cancer.
- POSTER: The LuCID study: Detection of lung cancer breath biomarkers via Breath Biopsy in a multi-centre trial.
- POSTER: Using exogenous volatile organic compound (EVOC) probes to target tumour-associated aldo-keto reductase activity: a potential tool to detect lung cancer.
- REVIEW: Breath analysis for the detection of digestive tract malignancies: systematic review.
- NEWS: Owlstone Medical Enters Partnership with Bicycle Therapeutics for the Development of Antigen-Targeted EVOC Probes for Early Cancer Detection, initial research will focus on the early detection of lung cancer.
- CASE STUDY: SCFAs on breath could help detect esophageal-gastric cancer earlier.
Blog
Articles published on our blog related to cancer.
