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A major trial of the
technology (pictured) – involving 1,500 patients over two years – is now being
launched
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A breathalyzer test being developed by British
scientists could revolutionize cancer diagnosis. The test is designed to pick up early signs of
the disease which enter the breath and become airborne – slashing the need for
biopsies. Doctors say it could save thousands of lives each
year.
The technique relies on a pioneering device that
can detect chemicals given off by cancerous tumours. A major trial of the technology – involving 1,500
patients over two years – is now being launched. The test could replace current screening
programmes within a decade.
Dr David Crosby, from Cancer Research UK, said:
‘It sounds futuristic but it’s very much a real thing and the potential is
enormous. If you find cancer early, the potential for treatment is much higher.
In a lot of cases, we simply don’t have good tests for finding very early
cancers because they don’t have symptoms.
‘So having a test which is relatively cheap – and
non-invasive so you don’t have to take a biopsy – would be a huge advantage.
Essentially it’s a breathalyzer for cancer.’
The UK lags behind the rest of Europe when
it comes to cancer survival rates, which experts blame on a failure to diagnose
it earlier. More than 17,000 Britons die each year because the disease is not
spotted quickly enough. While biopsies or other invasive tests take time
to organize, the breathalyzer could be operated in a GP’s surgery.
The technology is the brainchild of Cambridge
scientist Billy Boyle, who developed it after his wife died from colon cancer
at the age of 36. Kate Gross – who had been an adviser to Tony Blair and Gordon
Brown – died in 2014.
●Test is designed to pick up early signs of the disease which enter the breath ●It would slash the need for biopsies and could save thousands of lives a year ●Technique relies on a pioneering device that can detect chemicals from tumours
Mr Boyle said the loss of his ‘inspirational’
wife – with whom he had twin boys – spurred him to co-found development firm
Owlstone Medical in the hope of helping others get early treatment.
The test works by spotting waste products given
off by cancer cells, which are known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
These find their way into a patient’s breath through the bloodstream, in a
similar way to alcohol.
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The technique relies on a
pioneering device that can detect chemicals given off by cancerous tumours
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In the trial being carried out at Addenbrooke’s
Hospital in Cambridge, patients will be asked to breathe into the device for
ten minutes. It will collect the airborne molecules before they are sent to a
laboratory for analysis.
Patients can expect to have their results within
a few days, rather than the two weeks it typically takes for a biopsy.
Scientists also believe that different cancers
will cause recognizable alterations in the VOCs, allowing them to determine the
chemical signatures for each. Initially, patients with suspected oesophageal
and stomach cancers will be given the test before it is extended to include
prostate, kidney, bladder, liver and pancreatic cancers.
The trial is being run by Cancer Research UK
alongside Owlstone Medical.
Dr Crosby added: ‘The concept is that if you look
for those waste products, then you’ll be able to spot whether or not there’s a
cancer and what sort it might be.
‘It’s early stages but there are lots of
promising signals that look like you will get a different signature from a
cancer in your gut than you would from one in your lung, pancreas or anywhere
else.’
In the UK, there are 360,000 new cases of cancer
diagnosed every year. Of these, half are detected at a late stage, drastically
reducing a person’s survival chances. However, rapid advances in technology mean
scientists can now detect early signs of cancer that are equivalent to a
fraction of a grain of sand. Similarly, a greater understanding of the biology
of cancer means researchers are now confident they know what to look for.
Lead researcher Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald,
from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, said the best way to improve
survival rates was through early detection. She said: ‘We urgently need to develop new tools
– like this breath test – which could help to detect and diagnose cancer
earlier, giving patients the best chance of surviving. Through this trial we hope to find signatures
needed to detect cancers earlier. It’s the crucial next step in developing this
technology.’
Mr Boyle said that the breath test could work
alongside other methods of diagnosis. He added: ‘There is increasing potential
for breath-based tests to aid diagnosis, sitting alongside blood and urine
tests in an effort to help doctors detect and treat disease. The concept of providing a whole-body snapshot
in a completely non-invasive way is very powerful and could reduce harm by
sparing patients from more invasive tests that they don’t need. Our technology has proven to be extremely effective at detecting VOCs in the breath, and we are proud to be working with Cancer Research UK as we look to apply it towards the incredibly important area of detecting early-stage disease in a range of cancers.’
