Cancer Breath Test?

by Ellen Pettit

May 16, 2007

If you have noticed the sneaky arrival of a fruity rotten apple stench on the breath - beware of diabetes.  If the smell of urine is filling your breathing space, watch out for kidney failure.  Additionally, liver disease is delightfully accompanied by a musty fishy reek.

Since the time of Hippocrates, medicine has used the idea of examining human breath to detect disease.

Now, former scientist Michael Phillips is adding a modern twist to this ancient medical knowledge, with the invention of the Breathscanner - a device that can potentially detect breast cancer.

The device, similar to a police breathalyser, but a billion times more sensitive, is currently being tested by experts at the University of Western Australia.

“The breath testing will make recognition of breast cancer much easier,” the Cancer Council’s Rosvita Speenann said today.

“One of the problems with the current method of mammogram, is that it is not pleasant at all, if there is something like the breath testing, it will be nicer and women won’t be so deterred,” she said.

Breath scanner works by identifying the first ‘finger prints’ of cancer.

“The test detects around 200 different volatile organic compounds in a single sample of breath, these distinctive patterns can determine health or disease,” Dr Phillips said.

This non-invasive Breathscanner has already been approved in the US for use in the detection of organ rejection.

Dr Philips believes that the breath test will soon be available for use in Australia.

“I can’t give you a date, but there is a lot of goodwill out there,” he said.