A study suggests that new technology is not only a test to diagnose stomach cancer, but also to monitor those who are at a high risk of developing the disease.
The new technology is call nanoarray analysis, it senses compound in exhaled breath that can be used as a screening tool to detect stomach cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, the five year survival rate of all people with stomach cancer is about 28%. Most people are diagnosed with stomach cancer after the cancer has already spread to other parts of the body. If the cancer is found before it spreads outside the stomach, the five-year survival rate is at 64%.
At the moment there is no effective, non-invasive screening test for early detection of gastric cancer.
Researchers collected breath samples from about 500 people, including 99 which were diagnosed with stomach cancer but had not yet been treated.
The samples were then subject to nanoarray analysis combined with pattern recognition identified varying level of different compounds in the “breath prints.”
These levels of compounds accurately distinguished between the different precancerous safes and were able to determine patients at low and high risk of developing gastic cancer.
The results were consistent regardless of other influential factors such as age, alcohol intake and use of stomach acid suppressant drugs.
Nanoarray would avoid unnecessary endoscopies and would enable any progression o cancer or signs of the disease recurrence to be easily monitored.
Nanoarray analysis is a highly accurate, cheap and simple process.
Previously researchers considered using a technology called GCMS for stomach cancer screening. However that technology is costly and requires lengthy processing and significant expertise to conduct.
Currently a major study on thousands of patients is underway in Europe and will conducted in multiple centers. This study will allow the nanoarray approach to be validated in clinical settings.
