Oral Presentation Australian Society for Medical Research Annual Scientific Meeting 2016

Breath Test for Head and Neck Cancer: A Novel and Non-Invasive Approach  (#13)

Dhinashini DC Chandran 1 2 , Eng EO Ooi 1 3 , Roger RY Yazbeck 1
  1. Department of Surgery, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  2. Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  3. Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

 

Background:

A key challenge for the early detection of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the absence of low cost, non-invasive detection tools. Up to 2000 VOCs have been identified in the human breath, representing a potential reservoir of non-invasive biomarkers1. Our main aim was to develop a unique, non-invasive, ancillary breath test that could be used for early detection of HNSCC.

 

Methodology:

Participants were recruited from the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia. Exhaled, alveolar breath samples were collected into FlexFoil® PLUS bags from newly diagnosed histologically confirmed untreated HNSCC patients, matched healthy controls and patients with benign lesions. Patients were fasted for at least six hours and asked to refrain from smoking prior to breath collection. Breath samples were immediately analysed by Selected Ion Flow Tube-Mass Spectrometry (SIFT-MS) to quantify VOCs concentrations. Breath 13CO2 was quantified using isotope ratio mass spectrometry, and breath H2 and CH4 was quantified by a QuinTron BreathTracker®. Data is expressed as mean±SEM.

 

Results:

Breath samples were obtained from patients with HNSCC (N=10), benign lesions (N=5) and healthy controls (N=4). The mean patient age was 62y (range, 44-88). Sites of HNSCC were tongue (N=3), glottis (N=1), supraglottis (N=1), oropharynx (N=4) and hypopharynx (N=1) (Table 1). Breath CH4 was higher in the cancer group (16.1 ± 4.7) compared to the controls (9.3±5.9). However, breath hydrogen was lower in the cancer group compared to healthy controls (6.29±2.0 vs 10.4±4.3). Mean VOC concentrations for patient groups are presented in Figure 1.

 

Conclusion:

This promising preliminary data will underpin ongoing and future patient recruitment and sample collection. These compounds and other new HNC specific compounds from the ongoing mass scan analysis could lead to the development of a rapid, minimally invasive tool for detection and potentially screening of HNSCC.

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  1. 1. Phillips M, Cataneo RN, Chaturvedi A, Kaplan PD, Libardoni M, Mundada M, et al. Detection of an extended human volatome with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry. PloS one. 2013;8(9):e75274.