Researchers try new method to sniff out bowel cancer
Kiwi scientists are investigating whether bowel cancer can be detected in a person’s breath.
Aotearoa has one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world.
More than 3000 Kiwis are diagnosed with the disease and 1200 die from it each year.
But researchers working to identify a set of compounds that may indicate the presence of cancer or pre-cancer in the bowel hope that one day a breath test could quickly and easily identify Kiwis at risk of the disease and other conditions.
Patients who are diagnosed with bowel cancer are often referred for a colonoscopy because they are showing signs or symptoms of bowel cancer, such as blood in the stool, or return a positive bowel screening result.
Colonoscopies are invasive and expensive, and waiting lists can be long, the researchers say. The new technology could save time for doctors and patients. Instead of 30-60 minutes for a colonoscopy, a breath test takes a few minutes.
In the trial, patients who are about to undergo a colonoscopy are asked to breathe into a bag, which captures and transfers the breath into two small stainless steel tubes, each smaller than a pen.
The research is being undertaken by Crown institute Callaghan Innovation, the University of Otago (Wellington) Medical School, Syft Technologies Ltd Christchurch and Imperial College London. Researchers have been taking breath samples from patients – about 170 so far – at colonoscopy clinics in Wellington Regional Hospital and Kenepuru Hospital in Porirua for about two years.
Callaghan Innovation principal research scientist Dr Joseph Deere said the device was almost analogous with a breathalyser on the side of the road.
When sealed, the tubes store the breath. They are then put into a robotic system and heated to more than 200C – emitting a gas of the molecules which have been captured. This is fed through amass spectrometry system, which identifies molecules based on chemical composition (including weight and charge), and gives a read-out of the levels present in the breath. Differences in the concentrations of these biomarkers are then compared for groups of healthy patients, and patients with cancer, for pre-cancerous changes or other bowel diseases.
Deere said researchers did not see this as a replacement to existing care or the National Bowel Screening Programme.
Instead, they hoped it could be used as a secondary triage tool for colonoscopy waiting lists – helping to target colonoscopies and priorities, depending on readings.
Bowel Cancer NZ general manager Rebekah Heal said the ‘‘ground-breaking’’ research had the potential to ‘‘save many lives’’.
Deere said breath analysis ‘‘could revolutionise how we detect other diseases and conditions in the future’’.