Breath tests could distinguish cancerous lung nodules from benign ones

Human breath could help identify cancerous lung nodules and reduce the need for invasive testing. New Griffith University research analyzed exhaled breath to help doctors distinguish between cancerous and noncancerous lung nodules, supporting earlier lung cancer diagnosis. Approximately 2.5 million new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed each year.

Professor Chamindie Punyadeera of Griffith’s Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics said the study evaluated two complementary technologies, both of which showed promise. The paper, “Complementary breath profiling using eNose and GC-MS for non-invasive triage of indeterminate pulmonary nodules,” has been published in MedComm.

“We studied an electronic nose, or eNose, which identifies patterns in breath chemicals,” Punyadeera said.

“The second technology was gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, which identified specific volatile organic compounds in breath.

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