Developing Non-Invasive Breath Tests for Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancers

George Hanna, Head of Department of Surgery and Cancer, along with our own Vaughan Langford, describes the potential of SIFT-MS for early detection of gastro-esophageal cancers

In the early stages, cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract exhibit symptoms that are identical to benign conditions. Because there is currently no low-cost, non-invasive screening test that general practitioners can give to patients presenting these symptoms, early-stage cancers often go undiagnosed. Consequently, a high proportion are diagnosed only at later stages, where mortality rates are high and intervention is often severe.

Research focused on a breath-based screening test using direct mass spectrometry could be a promising alternative. In this webinar, we describe:

• Why early detection of gastro-esophageal cancers is so challenging
• Research utilizing SIFT-MS, with potential screening applications
• Future external validation work using Thermal Desorption-SIFT-MS