A research team led by Prof. CHU Yannan at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has uncovered a new way to detect cancer early—by analyzing the invisible chemical "scents" that the body gives off.
Their study, published in the Journal of Proteome Research, shows that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) could serve as reliable markers for multi-cancer, or pan-cancer, screening.
Early diagnosis is critical for improving survival rates, but most screening methods today focus on single types of cancer and often require invasive procedures. By contrast, pan-cancer screening aims to detect tumors in multiple organs at once, opening a path toward simpler and more effective early detection.
In this study, the team established a pan-cancer mouse model by chemically inducing tumors in organs such as the lungs, stomach, liver, and esophagus. Over a 21-week tumor development period, the researchers collected urine, feces, and odor samples from both tumor-bearing and healthy mice at six time points. Using headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS), they conducted non-targeted detection and analysis of VOCs.
The results revealed three sets of tumor-associated VOCs that not only reflected metabolic changes during cancer progression but also distinguished tumor-bearing mice from healthy controls.
Importantly, early tumor signals were detectable in urine at week 5, in odor at week 13, and in feces at week 17, well before advanced tumor development.
This study provides a valuable experimental foundation for exploring VOC biomarkers in pan-cancer research, according to the team.
Schematic diagram of esophageal cancer cell identification research process (Image GE Dianlong)
