Chromatography System For The Diagnosis Of Cancers

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Cancers can be detected or completely prevented through consistent preventive check-ups and screening. These help to find pre-cancerous stages of the disease or cancers in the early stages when treatments are most effective.

The detection method

It focuses on the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are continuously formed in the human body as intermediates or products of cellular metabolic pathways and thus reflect the health status of the individual.

VOCs are emitted through breath, urine, skin, saliva and other biological matrices. Changes in cellular metabolism associated with inflammation, necrosis, disease progression, or changes in the microflora lead to significant shifts in the concentrations of released volatiles.

Thus, the profiles of VOCs are unique and specific to different diseases (providing a holistic picture/VOC fingerprint of a particular disease).

PROJECT SPEnCER

The aim of the project was to use new technologies and artificial intelligence for early, non-invasive and immediate diagnosis of lung and pancreatic cancer from urine and breath samples.

The research was carried out in collaboration with the Jessenius Medical Faculty in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava and the R&D company Hofitech.

The project “Research of spectroscopic methods for early, non-invasive real-time identification of selected diseases from gas condensate released by lungs and skin” was co-funded by the European Union.

The analysis and identification of VOCs is carried out by GC-IMS (gas chromatography coupled to ion mobility spectrometry).