title: The lung cancer breath signature: a comparative analysis of exhaled breath and air sampled from inside the lungs.
abstract: Results collected in more than 20 years of studies suggest a relationship between the volatile organic compounds exhaled in breath and lung cancer. However, the origin of these compounds is still not completely elucidated. In spite of the simplistic vision that cancerous tissues in lungs directly emit the volatile metabolites into the airways, some papers point out that metabolites are collected by the blood and then exchanged at the air-blood interface in the lung. To shed light on this subject we performed an experiment collecting both the breath and the air inside both the lungs with a modified bronchoscopic probe. The samples were measured with a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and an electronic nose. We found that the diagnostic capability of the electronic nose does not depend on the presence of cancer in the sampled lung, reaching in both cases an above 90% correct classification rate between cancer and non-cancer samples. On the other hand, multivariate analysis of GC-MS achieved a correct classification rate between the two lungs of only 76%. GC-MS analysis of breath and air sampled from the lungs demonstrates a substantial preservation of the VOCs pattern from inside the lung to the exhaled breath.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosamaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Capuano
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrated Research - CIR, Unit of Electronics for Sensor Systems, "Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma", via Álvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santonico
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrated Research - CIR, Unit of Electronics for Sensor Systems, "Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma", via Álvaro del Portillo 21, 00128 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pennazza
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghezzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.affiliation: S. Camillo - C. Forlanini Hospital, Circ.ne Gianicolense 87, 00152 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roscioni
authors.affiliation: S. Camillo - C. Forlanini Hospital, Circ.ne Gianicolense 87, 00152 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lucantoni
authors.affiliation: S. Camillo - C. Forlanini Hospital, Circ.ne Gianicolense 87, 00152 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Galluccio
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Science and Technology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paolesse
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Natale
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Arnaldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Amico
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D062609:Electronic Nose; D045853:Exhalation; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds