Breath Test Helps Spot Lung Cancer

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For the new study, published online Feb. 26 in the journal Thorax, the sensor was used to test the breath of 122 people with different types of respiratory disease, including small cell lung cancer, and 21 healthy volunteers.

The test accurately predicted the presence of cancer in just under 75 percent of cases.

Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said, "I think it's a preliminary, promising technique that obviously has the ability to identify patients who aren't identified by other routine means at this time. But it does not have the specificity and sensitivity that we would like it to have at this particular time."

According to the study authors, the most accurate sensor to detect the presence of lung cancer from a patient's breath is a dog. The canines' accuracy rate is 99 percent, according to preliminary research.

"The dogs are very promising and very interesting, but it's not ready either," Mazzone said. "It also provides promise to us. As our technology gets better, we should be able to do what the dogs do."

Other breath tests to detect lung cancer are in various stages of development, including one that finds cancer "markers."

More information

To learn more about lung cancer, visit the Lung Cancer Alliance.