Observation of nonanoic acid and aldehydes in exhaled breath of patients with lung cancer

Abstract

Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer death in men and the second leading cause in women worldwide. The use of low-dose computed tomography in early diagnosis was shown to reduce mortality by 20% with a median follow-up time of 6.5 years. In order to increase profitability and reduce radiation risks and costs, exhaled biomarkers could serve to help establish narrower inclusion criteria. The aim of this study was to identify new, well-founded volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath which distinguish LC patients from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and healthy subjects. There were 210 subjects enrolled and divided into three groups: control group (n = 89), COPD group (n = 40 stable COPD patients) and LC group (n = 81 with histological confirmation). Exhaled breath samples were collected using BioVOC® breath sampler devices. The analytical technique used was thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The compounds studied were hexanal, heptanal, octanal, nonanal, propanoic and nonanoic acids. Nonanoic acid showed statistically significant differences between the LC group and the other groups. It is 2.5 times and almost 9 times more likely to be found in the LC group than in the control group or COPD group, respectively. It is independent of histology but depends on tumour stage.

Volatolomics in healthcare and its advanced detection technology

“…Terpene Limonene [48] Heart allograft rejection Alkane Breath alkanes [118] Heat failure Nitrile NO [66] Hepatic cancer/cirrhosis Acid Propanoic acid [67] Alcohol 1-Hexadecanol [67] Isopropyl alcohol [67] Aldehyde Acetaldehyde [68,69] Alkane Octane [67] Ketone 2-Pentanone [33] Acetone [33] Organosulphur Carbonyl sulfide [68,69] Dimethyl sulphide [68,69] Methyl mercaptan [68,69] Volatile ulphur containing compounds [33,[119][120][121] (Continued) Ethanol [125][126][127] Methanol [125] Α, α-4-trimethyl-3-cyclohexene-1-methanol [50] P-menth-1-en-8-ol (alpha-terpineol) [50] Aldehyde Butanal [128,129] Formaldehyde [55,130] Heptanal [57,128,131,132] Hexanal [57,127,128,131,132] Nonanal [55,128] Octanal [55,132] Pentanal [128] Propanal…”

Breathomics for the clinician: the use of volatile organic compounds in respiratory diseases

“…Metabolic changes within cancer cells can lead to significant changes in volatile breath profile 87 . Over the years, this has been explored as a potential avenue for early detection and diagnosis of lung cancer [88][89][90][91] .…”

Discriminant Profiles of Volatile Compounds in the Alveolar Air of Patients with Squamous Cell Lung Cancer, Lung Adenocarcinoma or Colon Cancer

“…hydrogen cyanide, methanol, acetonitrile, isoprene, 1-propanol Oguma et al [33] cyclohexane and xylene Callol-Sanchez et al [34] nonanoic acid Schallschmidt et al [25] some aldehydes, 2-butanone and 1-butanol. Rudnicka et al [35] propane, carbon disulfide, 2-propenal, ethylbenzene and isopropyl alcohol Song et al [36] 1-butanol and 3-hydroxy-2-butanone Saalberg and Wolff [37], in a comprehensive review about VOC breath biomarkers in lung cancer from 1985 to 2015, found that the number of the most frequently emerging biomarkers, identified by four or five research groups, was only six (2-butanone, 1-propanol, isoprene, ethylbenzene, styrene and hexanal).…”