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Detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from exhaled breath as noninvasive methods for cancer diagnosis

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Abstract

The detection of cancer at an early stage is often significant in the successful treatment of the disease. Tumor cells have been reported to generate unique cancer volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles which can reflect the disease conditions. The detection and analysis of VOC biomarkers from exhaled breath has been recognized as a new frontier in cancer diagnostics and health inspections owing to its potential in developing rapid, noninvasive, and inexpensive cancer screening tools. To detect specific VOCs of low concentrations from exhaled breath, and to enhance the accuracy of early diagnosis, many breath collection and analysis approaches have been developed. This paper will summarize and critically review the exhaled-breath VOC-related sampling, collection, detection, and analytical methods, especially the recent development in VOC sensors. VOC sensors are commonly inexpensive, portable, programmable, easy to use, and can obtain data in real time with high sensitivities. Therefore, many sensor-based VOC detection techniques have huge potential in clinical point-of-care use.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the 1,000 Young Talents program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21422507, 21321003) and Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Institute of New Energy, State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing, 102249, China

      Xiaohua Sun

    2. Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

      Xiaohua Sun & Tie Wang

    3. Department of Thoracic Surgery, Cancer Hospital & Institute, CAMS & PUMC, Beijing, 100021, China

      Kang Shao

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    1. Xiaohua Sun
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    Correspondence to Tie Wang.

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    Published in the topical collection featuring Young Investigators in Analytical and Bioanalytical Science with guest editors S. Daunert, A. Baeumner, S. Deo, J. Ruiz Encinar, and L. Zhang.

    Xiaohua Sun and Kang Shao contributed equally to this work.

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    Sun, X., Shao, K. & Wang, T. Detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from exhaled breath as noninvasive methods for cancer diagnosis. Anal Bioanal Chem 408, 2759–2780 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-015-9200-6

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