According to a study published online in the journal Lung Cancer, researchers from Italy and the Netherlands have developed a device that can detect a very specific type of cancer simply by sampling a patient's breath.
In an obvious reference to the French writer Cyrano de Bergerac, the device is called the Cyranose 320 and is being hyped as an 'electronic nose' that can detect malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), making it a potentially incredible diagnostic tool for an extremely difficult and typically fatal cancer.
The Cyranose 320 works by analyze the organic compounds expressed in a sample of the patient's breath, creating a so-called 'breathprint' that then can be interpreted. This is a far cry from the current standard of diagnosis for MPM, a thorascopic biopsy, a risky procedure that can in some cases cause a lung to collapse or create an embolism.
Although associated with lung cancer because it is caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma is not technically a lung cancer. It is a cancer that develops along the thin membrane that lines the chest and abdomen.
Source
Lung Cancer
