The Breath Biopsy device is being trialled in the UK and is designed to detect cancer signs in molecules exhaled by patients. Breath test for cancer being trialled in UK
If the trial is successful, it is hoped cancers will be spotted earlier when they are more likely to be treatable, saving lives and money for the health service.
The first patients trialling the device are those with suspected oesophageal and stomach cancers at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
The hospital is recruiting 1,500 people for the two-year trial. Some will be healthy and others will be cancer patients.
It will later be extended to include those suspected to have prostate, kidney, bladder, liver and pancreatic cancers.
The airborne molecules collected in the test will be analysed in Cambridge and, if the device is proved to be accurate and reliable, it could become a common diagnostic tool for GPs.
Breath test for cancer being trialled in UK
Billy Boyle, co-founder and chief executive of British company Owlstone Medical, which is behind the device, said: “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 they don’t need.”
Related Try a MedDairy Diet
Lead investigator Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald, from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, 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 their disease.
Refrence : skynews
