Prediction of breast cancer using volatile biomarkers in the breath. Breast Cancer Res

We evaluated a breath test for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as a predictor of breast cancer. Breath VOCs were assayed in 51 asymptomatic women with abnormal mammograms and biopsy-proven breast cancer, and 42 age-matched healthy women. A fuzzy logic model predicted breast cancer with accuracy superior to previously reported findings. Following random assignment to a training set (64) or a prediction set (29), a model was constructed in the training set employing five breath VOCs that predicted breast cancer in the prediction set with 93.8 % sensitivity and 84.6 % specificity. The same model predicted no breast cancer in 16/50 (32.0%) women with abnormal mammograms and no cancer on biopsy. A two-minute breath test could potentially provide a safe, accurate and painless screening test for breast cancer, but prospective validation studies are required. There is a clinical need for a screening test for breast cancer that is accurate, safe and painless. We have previously reported a two-minute breath test for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that identified distinctive markers of oxidative stress in breast cancer 1, as well as in other conditions including lung cancer 2, heart transplant rejection 3 and diabetes mellitus 4. We repor