Centre for Haemato-Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, 3rd Floor John Vane Science Centre, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.
Curr Oncol. 2022 Sep 30;29(10):7355-7378. doi: 10.3390/curroncol29100578.
Breath analysis is a promising non-invasive method for the detection and management of lung cancer. Exhaled breath contains a complex mixture of volatile and non-volatile organic compounds that are produced as end-products of metabolism. Several studies have explored the patterns of these compounds and have postulated that a unique breath signature is emitted in the setting of lung cancer. Most studies have evaluated the use of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify these unique breath signatures. With recent advances in the field of analytical chemistry and machine learning gaseous chemical sensing and identification devices have also been created to detect patterns of odorant molecules such as volatile organic compounds. These devices offer hope for a point-of-care test in the future. Several prospective studies have also explored the presence of specific genomic aberrations in the exhaled breath of patients with lung cancer as an alternative method for molecular analysis. Despite its potential, the use of breath analysis has largely been limited to translational research due to methodological issues, the lack of standardization or validation and the paucity of large multi-center studies. It is clear however that it offers a potentially non-invasive alternative to investigations such as tumor biopsy and blood sampling.
呼气分析是一种有前途的非侵入性方法，可用于检测和管理肺癌。呼出的呼吸中含有复杂的挥发性和非挥发性有机化合物混合物，这些化合物是代谢的终产物。几项研究探索了这些化合物的模式，并假设在肺癌环境中会发出独特的呼吸特征。大多数研究都评估了使用气相色谱和质谱来识别这些独特的呼吸特征。随着分析化学和机器学习领域的最新进展，也已经开发出气态化学传感和识别设备来检测气味分子（如挥发性有机化合物）的模式。这些设备为未来的即时检测提供了希望。几项前瞻性研究还探索了肺癌患者呼气中特定基因组异常的存在，作为分子分析的替代方法。尽管有其潜力，但由于方法学问题、缺乏标准化或验证以及缺乏大型多中心研究，呼气分析的应用在很大程度上仅限于转化研究。然而，很明显，它为肿瘤活检和血液采样等检查提供了一种潜在的非侵入性替代方法。
