In a new paper published in the Journal of Breath Research, Maribel Hernández-Camarillo and colleagues investigate the potential of exhaled breath analysis for non-invasive lung cancer screening using proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). The study demonstrates how real-time analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in human breath can reveal differences between individuals with lung cancer and those without the disease, highlighting the potential of breathomics as a complement to existing diagnostic pathways.
The researchers analyzed exhaled breath from 43 participants, including 22 individuals with recently diagnosed lung cancer and 21 participants without lung cancer. Using a TOFWERK Vocus 2R mass spectrometer equipped with the Vocus PTR Reactor, the team continuously measured breath VOCs and applied multivariate statistical approaches to identify patterns associated with the two groups. Of the 54 VOC ions investigated, 21 were identified as being present in exhaled breath, with several showing statistically significant differences between the lung cancer and non-lung cancer cohorts. A VOC-based classification model achieved an AUC of 0.998, with 95.5% sensitivity and 100% specificity in the study cohort.
The study also identified several VOC ions with potential discriminatory value, including compounds associated with aldehydes, acids, alkenes, and nitrogen-containing species. In particular, one VOC signal showed more than a threefold difference between the lung cancer and non-lung cancer groups. The authors further explored diagnostic VOC ratios and correlations between compounds, demonstrating how patterns across multiple breath constituents may provide additional information beyond individual biomarkers.
Key findings include:
- Non-invasive analysis of exhaled breath using PTR-MS with the Vocus mass spectrometer
- Real-time profiling of volatile organic compounds in human breath
- Identification of VOC patterns associated with lung cancer
- Classification of lung cancer and non-lung cancer cohorts using multivariate analysis
- Identification of potential VOC biomarkers and diagnostic ratios
- High-resolution measurement of breath VOCs with rapid continuous analysis
- Potential application of breath analysis as a complement to existing lung cancer screening and diagnostic pathways
- A framework for further validation of breath-based biomarkers in larger, independent patient cohorts
The authors note that the findings are exploratory and require validation in larger, age-matched and independent cohorts before the identified VOCs can be considered definitive clinical biomarkers. Nevertheless, the study demonstrates the potential of real-time PTR-MS for investigating the human breath volatilome and advancing research into non-invasive approaches for lung cancer screening.
Journal of Breath Research / August 19, 2026
Maribel Hernández-Camarillo et al.
DOI 10.1088/1752-7163/ae8ffc