Breath analysis allows to predict treatment response in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients

Abstract

<b>Introduction:</b> The current follow-up procedure for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) patients is suboptimal and predictive markers are lacking. <b>Aims:</b> Investigate whether valatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath are able to discriminate treatment outcome in follow-up samples and if so, if this outcome can be predicted&nbsp;earlier on. <b>Methods:</b> At least one breath and background sample was collected from 9 MPM patients via multi-capillary column-ion mobility spectrometry. The associated CT-scans were scored as either stable (SD) or progressive (PD). After background correction, a lasso regression was performed. A discriminative model was set-up to differentiate between SD and PD in follow-up samples, while a predictive model was trained to predict the follow-up outcome based on the associated breath sample from the previous study visit. <b>Results:</b> We were able to discriminate between SD and PD in follow-up samples. Furthermore, a prediction of the treatment outcome based on an earlier breath sample was even more accurate (<i>figure 1</i>). Due to the small samples size, it is to be expected that our confidence intervals are relatively large, which is why validation in a larger population is necessary. <b>Conclusion:</b> We can conclude that VOCs in exhaled breath are promising in detecting and predicting treatment outcome of MPM patients. However, further research in a larger population is necessary to validate our results.