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The volatile metabolome and microbiome in pulmonary and gastro-intestinal
disease
van der Schee, M.P.C.
Publication date
2015
Document Version
Final published version
Link to publication
Citation for published version (APA):
van der Schee, M. P. C. (2015). The volatile metabolome and microbiome in pulmonary and
gastro-intestinal disease.
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53
Chapter 4
The Scent of Cancer
Marc P. van der Schee, Lisette N. Venekamp, Peter W.A. Kunst Department of Respiratory Medicine Academic Medical Center,
University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Annals of Internal Medicine(2010), 153(11):766-67
Diagnosis: L
ung Cancer
2 4
vastly underrated. The author rightfully asks: What does cancer actually smell like? Smell, either as a biological sense or chemical analytic process, is based on pattern recognition of complex mixtures of volatile organic compounds2. In exhaled breath, these volatile compounds are products of both physiologic and pathologic metabolic pathways. As such, a scent can indeed function as a diagnostic tool in differentiating health from disease.
Recently developed pattern-recognition analytic techniques based on electronic noses3 (mimicking the mammalian nose2), gas chromatography4, and ion mobility spectrometry show the enormous potential of olfaction-based diagnosis in lung cancer. Of interest, exhaled biomarker profiles were shown to discriminate lung, breast, colon, and prostate cancer5. However, the exact origins of these cancerous volatile compounds remain to be established. They may originate from a systemic response to a developing neoplasm, such as cachexia and increased oxidative stress. Other volatiles could arise from the micro environment of the tumor itself through necrosis, obstruction, and effusion. An ongoing study in our laboratory aims to capture volatile signatures produced locally by bronchial carcinomas. In 11 patients with histologically confirmed lung cancer, we used a bronchoscope to obtain air from the subsegment of the lung closest to the tumor. As control, the contralateral subsegment of the unaffected lung was sampled. Air samples were analyzed by a carbon nanoparticle electronic nose system. Pattern-recognition analysis showed that the volatile molecular profiles differ significantly between the affected and contralateral segments in patients with lung cancer (p = 0.009). These data suggest that the tumor has a specific scent that is emitted into the microenvironment of the developing neoplasm. Further characterization of tumor-specific volatile compounds by artificial olfaction may reintroduce the sense of smell into modern-day clinical practice. Indeed, using one’s (electronic) nose can tell us tales worth knowing1.
55
References
1. Steensma DP. The scent of cancer. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153:206-7.
2. Buck L, Axel R. A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors: a molecular basis for odor recognition. Cell. 1991;65:175-87.
3. Dragonieri S, Annema JT, Schot R, van der Schee MP, Spanevello A, Carratu ́ P, et al. An electronic nose in the discrimination of patients with non-small cell lung cancer and COPD. Lung Cancer. 2009;64:166-70.
4. Phillips M, Cataneo RN, Cummin AR, Gagliardi AJ, Gleeson K, Greenberg J, et al. Detection of lung cancer with volatile markers in the breath. Chest. 2003;123:2115-23.
5. Peng G, Hakim M, Broza YY, Billan S, Abdah-Bortnyak R, Kuten A, et al. Detection of lung, breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers from exhaled breath using a single array of nanosensors. Br J Cancer. 2010;103:542-51. Diagnosis: L
ung Cancer
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