Prostate cancer sniffs electronic nose

Electronic nose entrusted to detect prostate cancer

Copper news based on ScienceDaily: Electronic nose sniffs out prostate cancer using urine samplesA study by Finnish scientists has shown that the so-called electronic nose is able to detect prostate cancer at an early stage.

According to a study published in the Journal of Urology (Roine et al., Detection of Prostate Cancer by an Electronic Nose: A Proof of Principle Study), such an electronic device is capable of detecting malignant and benign prostate tumors by vapors above a urine sample.

Prostate cancer ranks second in the world in the prevalence of malignant diseases in men and is one of the main causes of death from cancer. Currently, to diagnose and monitor the course of prostate cancer and prostate adenoma (benign prostatic hyperplasia, BPH), doctors conduct a finger rectal examination of the gland, a biochemical blood test for a tumor biomarker – prostate specific antigen (PSA) and a prostate biopsy, which is a painful and expensive procedure that has a risk of infection.

A little more than 20 years ago, research by scientists showed that with the help of the sense of smell, dogs can detect cancer in their owners by characteristic volatile organic compounds secreted with human sweat and urine. Then the researchers began to develop the technical equivalent of a dog's nose – an artificial analogue of the sense of smell, or an electronic nose that analyzes a complex mixture of gas molecules: when the device is brought to a biological sample, it determines their composition.

Scientists from the University of Tampere have found that this non-invasive method can detect prostate cancer at an early stage. In addition, the electronic nose is able to distinguish prostate cancer from benign hyperplasia of the gland. According to the article published by the authors, the results produced by the electronic nose are comparable in accuracy with the PSA analysis.

The electronic device, developed by Environmonics Inc, was tested on 50 patients with diagnosed prostate cancer and 15 patients with BPH. Before and after surgery to remove the tumor, urine samples were taken from patients for analysis. As the results of the study showed, the electronic nose was able to distinguish prostate cancer from prostate adenoma; the sensitivity of the device reached 78%, and the specificity – 67%.

"The performance of an electronic nose is comparable to a blood test for PSA, while the result is determined quickly and noninvasively," ScienceDaily quoted the words of the main author of the study Niku Oksala (Niku Oksala). – As is known, PSA correlates with the size of the prostate, which is a potential source of diagnostic errors when comparing parameters characteristic of prostate cancer and benign pathology. According to our study, the size of the tumor does not affect the results obtained when using an electronic nose, which indicates a high degree of specificity of its sensors."

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru06.005.2014