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Breast cancer is one of the most common and one of the most treatable human malignancies. One in every ten women now develops breast cancer at some time in her life. Fortunately, there is now conclusive evidence that early detection with screening mammography can reduce mortality from the disease. But mammography is not without its own problems: many women find the required breast compression to be uncomfortable and even painful. Also, the test is comparatively expensive and generates a large number of false positive findings, resulting in needless anxiety and biopsies. There is a clinical need for an alternative method of screening for breast cancer which is at least equally accurate, but is less painful, less expensive, and free of potentially hazardous radiation.

We have reported three clinical studies which have provided proof of principle that a breath test can detect breast cancer with high accuracy.

Current test sites
With support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (SBIR Phase I), Menssana Research, Inc. is now evaluating a rapid point-of-care breath test (BreathLink^TM) for breast cancer at the following sites:

Seattle Swedish Cancer Center

St. Michael's Medical Center (Connie Dwyer Cancer Center)

Maastricht University, Netherlands

Publications

(PDF Document) Volatile biomarkers in the breath of women with breast cancer.

Phillips M, Cataneo RN, Saunders C, Hope P, Schmitt P, and Wai J

Journal of Breath Research (Mar. 2, 2010)

(PDF Document) Prediction of breast cancer using volatile biomarkers in the breath.

Phillips M, Cataneo RN, Ditkoff BA, Fisher P, Greenberg J, Gunawardena R, Kwon CS, Tietje O, and Wong C

Breast Cancer Research and Treatment (2006).

(PDF document) Volatile markers of breast cancer in the breath.

Phillips M, Cataneo RN, Ditkoff BA, Fisher P, Greenberg J, Gunawardena R, Kwon CS, Rahbari-Oskoui F and Wong C

The Breast Journal (2003); 9(3): 184-191

(PDF document) Correction for: Volatile markers of breast cancer in the breath.

Phillips M, Cataneo RN, Ditkoff BA, Fisher P, Greenberg J, Gunawardena R, Kwon CS, Rahbari-Oskoui F and Wong C

The Breast Journal (2003)