Breathalyser could revolutionise cancer diagnosis
A breathalyser test developed in Cambridge could revolutionise cancer diagnosis.
The Breath Biopsy device is designed to detect cancer hallmarks in molecules exhaled by patients.
It is being put under trial at Addenbrooke's Hospital.
Scientists hope it will lead to a simpler, cheaper method of spotting cancers at an early stage, when they are more likely to respond to treatment.
The cancer breathalyser has the potential to save thousands of lives and save millions of pounds in healthcare costs, its developers claim.
The two-year trial is recruiting 1,500 participants including healthy individuals as well as cancer patients
Click to watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Claire McGlasson
Initially patients with suspected oesophageal and stomach cancers will be asked to try the test.
Later the trial will be extended to include prostate, kidney, bladder, liver and pancreatic cancers.
The PAN Cancer Trial For Early Detection Of Cancer In Breath is being run by Cancer Research UK in conjunction with British company Owlstone Medical, which invented the test.
If the technology is shown to be reliable and accurate, cancer breathalysers could become common sight in GP surgeries.