Breath test could detect stomach cancers, research shows

A new form of breath test could effectively detect nanoparticles that can diagnose stomach cancers, a study has found.

Researchers from Israel and China took breath samples from 130 patients suffering from a number of stomach complaints, as well as people with stomach cancers.

The specialists determined that nanomaterial sensors had a success rate of more than 90 per cent when it came to differentiating between cancers and other benign conditions.

As well as this, the sensors were over 90 per cent accurate when it came to identifying the difference between early and late stage gastric cancers.

They detect biomarkers that are linked with specific stomach complaints or types of cancer, with researchers hoping that the test could be used as an alternative to endoscopies.

Professor Hossam Haick, lead researcher from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, said: "The promising findings from this early study suggest that using a breath test to diagnose stomach cancers, as well as more benign complaints, could be a future alternative to endoscopies – which can be costly and time consuming, as well as unpleasant to the patient.

"Nevertheless, these results are at an early stage and support the concept of a breath test to detect stomach cancers but further validations are needed. Indeed, we’re already building on the success of this study with a larger-scale clinical trial."

Mr Haick went on to say that quantitative analysis shows roughly 7,000 people develop stomach cancer every year in the UK and many are in their advanced stages when they are diagnosed.

However, he hopes that the naomaterial breath test could present a new possibility for screening a population for stomach cancer.

Kate Law, director of clinical research at Cancer Research UK, also commented on the study, explaining that its results are "promising".

Despite this, she maintained that large scale trials will now be necessary to confirm the findings.

Posted by Ben Evans