New Breathalyzer Device May Detect Lung Cancer Through Breath Test

Lung cancer is one of the most prominent cancers in the United States, and sometimes the methods for lung cancer detection now either take too long to initiate or too costly. These two problems may become a memory in the past as lung cancer detection may jump leaps and bounds if it can be detected by simply breathing into a tube.

According to MSN Healthy Living, researchers have developed a breathalyzer that can detect lung cancer and assess whether it is early or advanced, according to its findings. The lung cancer breathyalyzer was presented over the weekend at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

The breathalyzer accurately detected lung cancer in four out of five cases in a research, as they reported their findings, through Dr. Nir Peled, oncologist with the Davidoff Cancer Center in Israel, in the statement below:

“Cancer cells not only have a different and unique smell or signature, you can even discriminate between subtypes and determine disease burden. The more tumor you have, the more robust signature you produce.”

Now a new, smaller version of the lung cancer breathalyzer has been developed and can easily plug into the USB port of any computer. This could actually revolutionize lung cancer screenings. A breathalyzer is non-traumatic, easy, and cheap approach to lung cancer detection compared to what is available out in the field right now.

In a report by CBS News, cancer survivors will rise from 14.5 million to 19 million by 2024. One of the reasons for this estimated rise in cancer survivors is an improvement in early detection. The report also detailed a little more on the lung cancer breathalyzer too. From what the researchers state, the lung cancer breathalyzer can differentiate between lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Just the precision of the breathalyzer alone should be respected.

Across the medical field, as well as all health videos, the number one way to make sure to avoid certain diseases or medical issues is prevention. Earlier on The Inquisitr, we reported about a new drug that looked promising for lung cancer patients, which would reduce tumors by 23 percent. Still, that may or may not be helpful depending on the stage someone is in. Right after lifestyle choices associated to avoiding lung cancer, early detection is the second-best thing to prevent someone from getting lung cancer. If the lung cancer breathalyzer can detect lung cancer in its most latent stages, then something can be done ahead of time to prevent it from becoming serious.

Let’s hope the lung cancer breathalyzer becomes a prominent method in the medical field, especially since lung cancer is the #1 killing cancer in the United States today.

[Image via Bing]