Abstract
Volatile biomarker analysis in exhaled breath is becoming one of the desirable strategies for cancer detection because it may offer a relatively inexpensive, rapid, and non-invasive screening method for early diagnosis. Breath analysis has attracted a considerable amount of scientific and clinical interest over the past decade. However, breath is not yet used for routine medical diagnostic purposes. Challenges faced in the development of breath analysis for cancer diagnosis include developing techniques that can measure biomarkers in exhaled breath at ultratrace levels, providing definitive evidence for their presence and for the relationship between the proposed biomarker and the underlying condition. Various analytical methods are used for the detection of breath biomarkers. Gas chromatography-based methods which involve sample collection, analyte preconcentration, desorption, and separation steps are the most popular. However, direct-sampling mass spectrometry techniques have been proven more reliable for air analysis without prior sample pretreatment or chromatographic separation. This review focuses on the most commonly used direct mass spectrometry methods for the direct online analysis of endogenous cancer biomarkers in exhaled breath, with particular attention to principle of detection, method performance, advantages, shortcomings, recent advances, and applications within health-related studies for cancer biomarkers research. The principle behind the science of breath analysis for cancer diagnosis is also discussed.
About the author
Dr. Koffi Badjagbo graduated from the School of Applied Science, Université de Lomé in Togo. He undertook MSc studies and obtained a PhD in Analytical Chemistry at the Université de Montréal, Canada. Before becoming a Lecturer of Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Chemistry in the Université de Montréal in 2010 and then an Assistant Professor in 2012, he worked as an Associate Researcher for Phytronix Technologies and as a Researcher for the Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry, QC, Canada, for over 5 years. His research includes applications of direct mass spectrometry in bioanalytical chemistry and in atmospheric chemistry, development of direct real-time monitoring methods for volatile biomarkers in exhaled breath and for volatile organic compounds in ambient air.
©2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
