Study Begins to Develop Breath Test for Mesothelioma Early Detection

This study has terrific significance and could be extremely important,” Harbut, clinical professor of internal medicine at Wayne State University and Michigan State University, told The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. “We’re going after this one with great guns.” The study is part of a new partnership between Owlstone Medical — the Breath Biopsy inventor in the United Kingdom — and the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, a building trade union that covers the United States and Canada. Early Diagnosis Still a Rarity The first part of the study will focus on identifying volatile organic compounds found in the breath of those already diagnosed with mesothelioma. The second phase will involve verifying the specificity, sensitivity and negative and positive predictive values of the selective volatile organic compound biomarkers. The goal is to develop a formula where easy-to-get breath samples can become reliable identifiers of early stage disease, a time when mesothelioma can be more successfully treated. “One of the biggest problems with mesothelioma is that we don’t know how to identify it early,” Harbut said. “It’s a very difficult diagnosis to make.” Typical symptoms of pleural mesothelioma — the most common type — include dry cough, tightness in the chest, night sweats, fatigue and shortness of breath. Early symptoms often mirror less serious illnesses. It usually takes a combination of X-rays, CT scans...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news