The Nose Can Diagnose the Skin Cancer

The skin releases over 100 volatile chemical compounds, according to research from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, and published in the British Journal of Dermatology. The next stage in developing this information has been described by Dr Gallagher at the August American Chemical Society meeting. Basal cell carcinoma, the most common skin cancer, releases a pattern of volatile compounds that can be recognized by appropriate equipment, and can be used in diagnosis.

The pattern of volatile compounds released at a tumor site differs from that found near healthy skin, and this difference can be detected using solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Studying 11 patients with basal cell carcinoma and 11 healthy subjects, Dr Gallagher was able to differentiate the cancer subjects from the healthy. The tumors did not differ in the compounds that were present, but rather in the amounts of specific compounds present. The tumors had a specific pattern of volatile compound amounts that could be readily identified. The team is now working on the patterns presented by squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.

This appears to be an interesting non-invasive way of detecting different skin cancers at an early stage. The apparatus used is bulky, but it’s hoped that hand-held devices using nano-sensors may be developed. My hope is that one could make use of that exquisitely sensitive aroma sensor, the dog’s nose. Two years ago I posted a note about dogs detecting melanoma tumors. The study reported then didn’t make much news; maybe this new one will encourage dermatologists to ‘get a dog’. Of course, patients may prefer to have an instrument passed over them than a dog sniffing them out . . .