"Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer death, with the prognosis adversely affected by late diagnosis. Early diagnosis of lung cancer is desirable, but current evidence does not support the application of screening with techniques such as chest radiography, sputum cytology or computed tomography. Breath analysis, which includes gaseous phase analysis that measures volatile organic compounds using electronic noses, exhaled nitric oxide, and exhaled breath condensate (EBC), has been proposed as a non-invasive and simple technique to investigate neoplastic processes in the airways.

"Identification of molecular alterations in biological fluids has been proposed as a powerful tool for cancer diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to identify cells that carry chromosomal alterations indicative of malignancy-specifically, gains in the loci 5p15.2 (D5S23, D5S721), 6p11 approximately q11, 7p12 (EGFR), and 8q24.12 approximately q24.13 (MYC)-for the detection of lung cancer using induced sputum. The overall sensitivity of the multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay from 52 lung cancer patients was 71% and the specificity was 100% (15 of 15).

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer death, with the prognosis adversely affected by late diagnosis. Early diagnosis of lung cancer is desirable, but current evidence does not support the application of screening with techniques such as chest radiography, sputum cytology or computed tomography. Breath analysis, which includes gaseous phase analysis that measures volatile organic compounds using electronic noses, exhaled nitric oxide, and exhaled breath condensate (EBC), has been proposed as a non-invasive and simple technique to investigate neoplastic processes in the airways.

Identification of molecular alterations in biological fluids has been proposed as a powerful tool for cancer diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to identify cells that carry chromosomal alterations indicative of malignancy-specifically, gains in the loci 5p15.2 (D5S23, D5S721), 6p11 approximately q11, 7p12 (EGFR), and 8q24.12 approximately q24.13 (MYC)-for the detection of lung cancer using induced sputum. The overall sensitivity of the multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay from 52 lung cancer patients was 71% and the specificity was 100% (15 of 15).

RATIONALE: Our group has recently demonstrated the possibility of studying microsatellite alterations (MAs) of 3p in the DNA of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). OBJECTIVES: To verify whether MAs analyzed in DNA from EBC reflect a profile of alterations present in tumor tissue of NSCLC. METHODS: Fifty-nine subjects undergoing histologic diagnosis for clinical suspicion of lung cancer entered the study: 41 were found to have NSCLC and 18 to have nonneoplastic diseases.

Recent years have brought tremendous progress in the development of genomic and proteomic platforms to study cancer biology. Tests based on these platforms are helpful in early diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of treatment benefit. Molecular studies performed on minimally invasive material (plasma, sputum) from individuals participating in longitudinal or case-control studies have approximately 70%-90% sensitivity and specificity to detect lung cancer. In operable non-small-cell lung cancer, genomic and proteomic studies yield better prognostic information than pathologic staging.

BACKGROUND: A combination of biomarkers in a multivariate model may predict disease with greater accuracy than a single biomarker employed alone. We developed a non-linear method of multivariate analysis, weighted digital analysis (WDA), and evaluated its ability to predict lung cancer employing volatile biomarkers in the breath. METHODS: WDA generates a discriminant function to predict membership in disease vs no disease groups by determining weight, a cutoff value, and a sign for each predictor variable employed in the model.

Detection of lung cancer by sputum cytology has low sensitivity but is noninvasive and, if improved, could be a powerful tool for early lung cancer detection. To evaluate whether the accuracy of diagnosing lung cancer by evaluating sputa for cytologic atypia and genetic abnormalities is greater than that of conventional cytology alone, automated scoring of genetic abnormalities for 3p22.1 and 10q22.3 (SP-A) by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and conventional cytology was done on sputa from 35 subjects with lung cancer, 25 high-risk smokers, and 6 healthy control subjects.