Carpagnano Giovanna E, Lacedonia Donato, Spanevello Antonio, Martinelli Domenico, Saliani Valerio, Ruggieri Cinzia, Foschino-Barbaro Maria P
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Institute of Respiratory Disease, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy,
Med Oncol. 2014 May;31(5):952. doi: 10.1007/s12032-014-0952-1. Epub 2014 Apr 11.
The exhaled breath temperature (EBT) has been proven to be the expression of airways inflammation as well as of the increased vascularity. Although both these conditions characterize lung cancer pathogenesis, this is the first study where the EBT has been analysed in patients affected by non-small-cell lung cancer. The aim of this study was to verify whether and how the lung cancer being examined influences the EBT for possible future clinical implications. Eighty-two consecutive subjects with a radiological suspicion of lung cancer were enrolled and underwent standard diagnostic and staging procedures for cancer. EBT was measured in all the subjects at the enrolment with the X-Halo device. Forty patients resulted as affected by lung cancer while 42 as false-positive (controls). We found a higher EBT in NSCLC patients compared to healthy subjects. The EBT was correlated with number of packs/year and associated with the stage of lung cancer. We identified a cut-off value for the EBT that is able to screen patients with lung cancer with a high sensitivity and specificity. Our results suggest that lung cancer causes an increase in the EBT, which, whether confirmed and validated, could become a new non-invasive clinical tool in the screening and monitoring of this disease.
呼出气体温度（EBT）已被证明是气道炎症以及血管增多的表现。尽管这两种情况都是肺癌发病机制的特征，但这是第一项对非小细胞肺癌患者的EBT进行分析的研究。本研究的目的是验证所检测的肺癌是否以及如何影响EBT，以便为未来可能的临床应用提供参考。连续纳入82名经影像学检查怀疑患有肺癌的受试者，并对其进行癌症的标准诊断和分期程序。在入组时，使用X-Halo设备对所有受试者测量EBT。40例患者被诊断为肺癌，42例为假阳性（对照组）。我们发现非小细胞肺癌患者的EBT高于健康受试者。EBT与每年吸烟包数相关，并与肺癌分期有关。我们确定了一个EBT的临界值，该临界值能够以高灵敏度和特异性筛查肺癌患者。我们的结果表明，肺癌会导致EBT升高，若得到证实和验证，这可能成为一种用于该疾病筛查和监测的新的非侵入性临床工具。
