Marla Kott was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer on Nov. 21, 2014. It was her 60th birthday.
"It was not a great day," said Kott, who was was one of thousands of people in Canada diagnosed with lung cancer that year.
The disease accounts for a quarter of cancer deaths, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. The society says the five-year survival rate is 62 per cent for those diagnosed with Stage 1 lung cancer, and drops to three per cent for Stage 4.
It took about a year for Kott to be diagnosed, after undergoing numerous tests to determine what was wrong.
Against the odds, Kott is still going strong nine years later — but the Vancouver resident wishes there had been a way to detect her cancer sooner.
"I might have been able to have surgery and be done with it," she said, imagining scenarios in which the disease was discovered early and fully treated.
Researchers with B.C. Cancer in Vancouver are now working to develop a breath test that could help show signs of cancer earlier, and screen more people, more easily.
"When we exhale, we exhale over 1,000 volatile organic compounds," said team co-lead Dr. Renelle Myers, adding that some of these compounds have the potential to indicate cancer development.
Myers first began studying breath samples in 2020, when she opened what she says is the first clinical breath lab in Canada. When the pandemic hit, her team pivoted from cancer research to looking at the detection of COVID through breath.
"If we can find that fingerprint of an early lung cancer, that will help us screen, much more easily, many, many people around the province and around the world."
Additionally, researchers hope the test will help them understand how changes in the lungs might indicate cancer development in people who have never smoked.
"We are seeing an alarming increase of lung cancer in never-smokers," Myers said.
A study published by B.C. Cancer in June 2023 found that 33 per cent of lung cancer patients in Vancouver had never used tobacco products, and suggested air pollution might be the cause — in particular, a particle called PM2.5, levels of which are higher in B.C. during wildfire season.
AI organizing data
The test researchers are working on uses artificial intelligence to sift through data.
"There's thousands of compounds in a single breath," Myers said, adding that AI helps organize people by age, risk factors and other indicators of cancer.
"Even if our team works 24/7, we couldn't process all the samples required for these large, multi-centre studies with only the system we have now," research team co-lead Dr. Stephen Lam said. "Especially since samples can't be stored for very long once collected."
Currently, the best way to diagnose lung cancer is through a CT (computed tomography) scan, Myers said. But other tests, including blood tests, X-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds and biopsies, to name a few, can be part of the determination.
"The majority of patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer are diagnosed at a late stage when they become symptomatic," Myers said.
The team is in the early stages of nationwide clinical study, having collected nearly 300 samples from individuals in Ontario, B.C. and Quebec. The goal is to look at samples from 4,000 people.
They're looking at pulmonary nodules — small clumps of cells in the lungs — that are often benign but can develop into cancer.
Researchers will follow patients over five years to see how those nodules develop and how breath signatures change in turn.
By being able to identify if a nodule is not cancerous, Myers said patients could be given the all clear, and not have to follow up for several months.
"It's powerful in that it could potentially really reduce downstream resource utilization in our health-care system," she said.
News
New nanomedicine wipes out leukemia in animal study
In a promising advance for cancer treatment, Northwestern University scientists have re-engineered the molecular structure of a common chemotherapy drug, making it dramatically more soluble and effective and less toxic. In the new study, [...]
Mystery Solved: Scientists Find Cause for Unexplained, Deadly Diseases
A study reveals that a protein called RPA is essential for maintaining chromosome stability by stimulating telomerase. New findings from the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggest that problems with a key protein that helps preserve chromosome stability [...]
Nanotech Blocks Infection and Speed Up Chronic Wound Recovery
A new nanotech-based formulation using quercetin and omega-3 fatty acids shows promise in halting bacterial biofilms and boosting skin cell repair. Scientists have developed a nanotechnology-based treatment to fight bacterial biofilms in wound infections. The [...]
Researchers propose five key questions for effective adoption of AI in clinical practice
While Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool that physicians can use to help diagnose their patients and has great potential to improve accuracy, efficiency and patient safety, it has its drawbacks. It [...]
Advancements and clinical translation of intelligent nanodrugs for breast cancer treatment
A comprehensive review in "Biofunct. Mater." meticulously details the most recent advancements and clinical translation of intelligent nanodrugs for breast cancer treatment. This paper presents an exhaustive overview of subtype-specific nanostrategies, the clinical benefits [...]
It’s Not “All in Your Head”: Scientists Develop Revolutionary Blood Test for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
A 96% accurate blood test for ME/CFS could transform diagnosis and pave the way for future long COVID detection. Researchers from the University of East Anglia and Oxford Biodynamics have created a highly accurate [...]
How Far Can the Body Go? Scientists Find the Ultimate Limit of Human Endurance
Even the most elite endurance athletes can’t outrun biology. A new study finds that humans hit a metabolic ceiling at about 2.5 times their resting energy burn. When ultra-runners take on races that last [...]
World’s Rivers “Overdosing” on Human Antibiotics, Study Finds
Researchers estimate that approximately 8,500 tons of antibiotics enter river systems each year after passing through the human body and wastewater treatment processes. Rivers spanning millions of kilometers across the globe are contaminated with [...]
Yale Scientists Solve a Century-Old Brain Wave Mystery
Yale scientists traced gamma brain waves to thalamus-cortex interactions. The discovery could reveal how brain rhythms shape perception and disease. For more than a century, scientists have observed rhythmic waves of synchronized neuronal activity [...]
Can introducing peanuts early prevent allergies? Real-world data confirms it helps
New evidence from a large U.S. primary care network shows that early peanut introduction, endorsed in 2015 and 2017 guidelines, was followed by a marked decline in clinician-diagnosed peanut and overall food allergies among [...]
Nanoparticle blueprints reveal path to smarter medicines
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the delivery vehicles of modern medicine, carrying cancer drugs, gene therapies and vaccines into cells. Until recently, many scientists assumed that all LNPs followed more or less the same blueprint, [...]
How nanomedicine and AI are teaming up to tackle neurodegenerative diseases
When I first realized the scale of the challenge posed by neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), I felt simultaneously humbled and motivated. These disorders are not caused [...]
Self-Organizing Light Could Transform Computing and Communications
USC engineers have demonstrated a new kind of optical device that lets light organize its own route using the principles of thermodynamics. Instead of relying on switches or digital control, the light finds its own [...]
Groundbreaking New Way of Measuring Blood Pressure Could Save Thousands of Lives
A new method that improves the accuracy of interpreting blood pressure measurements taken at the ankle could be vital for individuals who are unable to have their blood pressure measured on the arm. A newly developed [...]
Scientist tackles key roadblock for AI in drug discovery
The drug development pipeline is a costly and lengthy process. Identifying high-quality "hit" compounds—those with high potency, selectivity, and favorable metabolic properties—at the earliest stages is important for reducing cost and accelerating the path [...]
Nanoplastics with environmental coatings can sneak past the skin’s defenses
Plastic is ubiquitous in the modern world, and it's notorious for taking a long time to completely break down in the environment - if it ever does. But even without breaking down completely, plastic [...]
