New Study Finds Promise in Breath-Based Mesothelioma Screening Test, According to Surviving Mesothelioma

In a newly published report, Belgian doctors say a test that measures volatile organic compounds has the potential to detect early signs of mesothelioma in high-risk people.

Raleigh, NC (PRWEB) October 01, 2016

Scientists at Ghent University are calling a new breath analysis method "promising" and deserving of further study as a way to identify signs of mesothelioma. Surviving Mesothelioma has just published an article on this new research. Click here to read it now.

Researchers in the Departments of Respiratory and Internal Medicine administered a test called multi-capillary column-ion mobility spectrometry (MCC-IMS) to 66 people, including 23 pleural mesothelioma patients, 22 former asbestos workers, and 21 healthy non-asbestos exposed people.

"Breath analysis by MCC/IMS allows malignant pleural mesothelioma patients to be discriminated from controls and holds promise for further investigation as a screening tool for former asbestos-exposed persons at risk of developing malignant pleural mesothelioma," writes lead author Dr. Kevin Lamote.

The study, published in the Journal of Breath Research found that the test was 87% accurate at distinguishing asbestos-exposed people from those who had already been diagnosed with mesothelioma.

"One of the most deadly aspects of malignant mesothelioma is that patients typically don't even know they have it until it is in its advanced stages," says Alex Strauss, Managing Editor of Surviving Mesothelioma. "If a simple breath test could help detect it earlier, that is potentially a very exciting development."

To read more about the test and the Belgian study results, see Breath Screening May Help Detect Early Mesothelioma, now available on the Surviving Mesothelioma website.

Lamote, Kevin, et al, "Detection of malignant pleural mesothelioma in exhaled breath by multicapillary column/ion mobility spectrometry (MCC/IMS)", September 26, 2016, Journal of Breath Research, Volume 10, No. 4.
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1752-7155/10/4/046001/meta;jsessionid=9F717D53551AD7DFA9C9677E646FE0AE.c5.iopscience.cld.iop.org

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/09/prweb13720854.htm