title: Comparative analyses of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from patients, tumors and transformed cell lines for the validation of lung cancer-derived breath markers.
abstract: Breath analysis for the purpose of non-invasive diagnosis of lung cancer has yielded numerous candidate compounds with still questionable clinical relevance. To arrive at suitable volatile organic compounds our approach combined the analysis of different sources: isolated tumor samples compared to healthy lung tissues, and exhaled breath from lung cancer patients and healthy controls. Candidate compounds were further compared to substances previously identified in the comparison of transformed and normal lung epithelial cell lines. For human studies, a breath sampling device was developed enabling automated and CO2-controlled collection of the end-tidal air. All samples were first preconcentrated on multibed sorption tubes and analyzed with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Significantly (p < 0.05) higher concentrations in all three types of cancer samples studied were observed for ethanol and n-octane. Additional metabolites (inter alia 2-methylpentane, n-hexane) significantly released by lung cancer cells were observed at higher levels in cancer lung tissues and breath samples (compared to respective healthy controls) with statistical significance (p < 0.05) only in breath samples. The results obtained confirmed the cancer-related origin of volatile metabolites, e.g. ethanol and octane that were both detected at significantly (p < 0.05) elevated concentrations in all three kinds of cancer samples studied. This work is an important step towards identification of volatile breath markers of lung cancer through the demonstration of cancer-related origin of certain volatile metabolites.
authors.affiliation: Breath Research Institute of the University of Innsbruck, A-6850 Dornbirn, Austria. Univ.-Clinic for Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Innsbruck Medical University, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Filipiak
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Filipiak
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sponring
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zelger
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ager
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Klodzinska
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Denz
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pizzini
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lucciarini
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jamnig
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Troppmair
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amann
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002461:Cell Line, Transformed; D045853:Exhalation; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds