Breath test for breast cancer
A Perth research group has received a grant to investigate the possibility of developing a breath-test for breast cancer. If successful, it could mean that many women won’t need to go through the discomfort of a mammogram and it could help in other diseases.
While mammograms are currently the most effective way of detecting cancers, they are not perfect, and the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) breath tests being studied would complement mammograms.
The breath-test could be used to find out who is likely to have a normal mammogram and therefore not have to have a mammogram – saving tens of thousands of women every year from having to have a mammogram.
Secondly, for women who have a mammogram which shows up an abnormality, this may be able to point very directly to whether it’s a cancer or not. The breath test is simple – just blowing into a machine and giving a small sample of breath, which can then be analysed.
The VOCs reflect stress within cells and stress that’s caused by cancer – not just breast cancer but possibly also lung cancer and indeed other diseases like diabetes and TB.
