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Bronchoscopically Obtained Volatile Biomarkers in Lung Cancer

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Abstract

Background

The exhaled breath of lung cancer patients contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that differ from those in healthy individuals. These VOCs can be detected with methods such as ion mobility spectrometry (IMS); their origin remains unknown.

Methods

In 19 patients with lung cancer, exhaled breath was aspirated via the working channel of a flexible bronchoscope from both the tumor-bearing and the opposite lung and analyzed with IMS.

Results

IMS measurement through the working channel of a bronchoscope was feasible and safe. In comparison to the opposite lung, we found two peaks that were significantly higher and three peaks that were significantly lower on the IMS of the tumor-bearing site. VOCs differ in concentration depending on the histologic subtype.

Conclusion

Our results indicate that VOCs in lung cancer patients are produced locally in or around the tumor, and it is most likely that these VOCs represent underlying metabolic processes of the tumor.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Bertram Boedeker (B&S Analytik GmbH, Dortmund) for his assistance in statistical analysis, Gabriele Kentrat and Thomas Rabis (both Ruhrlandklink Essen, Germany) for their assistance in data collection, and Arun Nair and Isabella Kurth for reading the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

Joerg Ingo Baumbach is shareholder of the Company B&S Analytik, which is producing breath gas analysers. The other authors have no financial interests to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Interventional Pneumology, Ruhrlandklinik, University Hospital Essen, University of Essen, Tüschener Weg 40, 45239, Essen, Germany

    Kaid Darwiche & Lutz Freitag

  2. Department Clinical Diagnostics, KIST Europe, Campus E 71, 66123, Saarbruecken, Germany

    Joerg Ingo Baumbach

  3. Department of Pneumology, Ruhrlandklinik, University Hospital Essen, University of Essen, 45239, Essen, Germany

    Urte Sommerwerck & Helmut Teschler

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  1. Kaid Darwiche
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  2. Joerg Ingo Baumbach
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Correspondence to Kaid Darwiche.

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Darwiche, K., Baumbach, J.I., Sommerwerck, U. et al. Bronchoscopically Obtained Volatile Biomarkers in Lung Cancer. Lung 189, 445–452 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-011-9324-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00408-011-9324-1

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