Point-of-care testing in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers: current technology and future directions
Point-of-care (POC) tests enable rapid results and are well established in medical practice. Recent advances in analytical techniques have led to a new generation of POC devices that will alter gastrointestinal diagnostic pathways. This review aims to identify current and new technologies for the POC diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancer.
Analysis of Exhaled Breath Volatile Organic Compounds in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Pilot Study
Distinguishing between the inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD], Crohn’s disease [CD] and ulcerative colitis [UC], is important for determining management and prognosis. Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry [SIFT-MS] may be used to analyse volatile organic compounds [VOCs] in exhaled breath: these may be altered in disease states, and distinguishing breath VOC profiles can be identified.
Gastric Cancers Missed During Endoscopy in England
Single-center studies have estimated that 4.6% to 25.8% of gastric cancers are missed at endoscopy. We performed a population-based study to make a more precise estimate of factors associated with missed lesions in England.
Breath metabolite response to major upper gastrointestinal surgery
Esophagectomy and gastrectomy are associated with profound metabolic changes and significant postoperative morbidity. The aim of this prospective clinical study was to determine whether breath analysis can offer novel insight into the surgical metabolic response and identify biomarkers of postoperative complications, including lung injury.
Investigation of C3-C10 aldehydes in the exhaled breath of healthy subjects using selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry
Aldehydes have attracted great scientific and clinical interest as potential disease biomarkers. We have investigated selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) in detecting and quantifying C3 to C10 saturated aldehydes (propanal, butanal, pentanal, hexanal, heptanal, octanal, nonanal and decanal) from the exhaled breath of 26 healthy human volunteers.
A population-based, retrospective, cohort study of esophageal cancer missed at endoscopy
Several studies have suggested that a significant minority of esophageal cancers are missed at endoscopy The aim of this study was to estimate the proportion of esophageal cancers missed at endoscopy on a national level, and to investigate the relationship between miss rates and patient and tumor characteristics.
Discrimination of lymph node metastases using desorption electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry imaging
Desorption electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry imaging (DESI-MSI) has been used for the identification of cancer within lymph nodes with accurate spatial distribution in comparison to gold standard matched immuno-histopathological images.
Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry analysis of exhaled breath for volatile organic compound profiling of esophago-gastric cancer
Exhaled breath analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has great potential in terms of disease diagnosis and measuring physiological response to treatment. In this study, selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) has been applied for the quantification of VOCs in the exhaled breath from 3 groups of patients, viz., those with esophago-gastric cancer, noncancer […]
Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry analysis of volatile metabolites in urine headspace for the profiling of gastro-esophageal cancer
Urine is considered an ideal biofluid for clinical investigation because it is obtained noninvasively and relatively large volumes are easily acquired. In this study, selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) has been applied for the quantification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the headspace vapor of urine samples, which were retrieved from three groups […]
Exhaled nitric oxide as biomarker of acute lung injury: an unfulfilled promise?
The discovery of nitric oxide (NO) as a signalling and regulatory molecule and its subsequent detection in the exhaled breath has not only yielded new mechanistic insights but also diagnostic opportunities and therapeutic targets in several important medical conditions. In diseases involving chronic pulmonary inflammation such as asthma that affects millions worldwide, exhaled NO has […]
