Abstract
Despite the great progress in screening techniques and medical treatments, colorectal cancer remains one of the most widespread cancers in both sexes, with a high death rate. In this work, the volatile compounds released from human colon cancer tissues were detected by a set of four different chemoresistive sensors, made with a nanostructured powder of metal-oxide materials, inserted into an innovative patented device. The sensor responses to the exhalation of a primary cancer sample and of a healthy sample (both of the same weight, collected during colorectal surgery from the intestine of the same patient) were statistically analyzed. The sensors gave reversible, reproducible, and fast responses for at least one year of continuous use, making them quite superior in respect to the existing diagnostic methods. Preliminary results obtained using principal component analysis of the sensor responses to samples removed from 13 patients indicate that the nanostructured sensors employed in this study were able to distinguish between healthy and tumor tissue samples with coherent responses (the discrimination power of the most sensitive sensor was about 17%), highlighting a strong potential for clinical practice.
Highlights
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide with an increasing trend with age, and second in causing mortality in both sexes [1]
The samples were DMEM, a healthy tissue sample, and its tumor tissue counterpart; all sensors were simultaneously exposed to the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) exhaled by the samples
Resulted in: ∼ 7.8% for ST25, ∼ 10.7% for W11, ∼ 3% for STN, and ∼ 16.6% for TiTaV (H is the average ratio of each sensor response to a healthy sample; i.e., the light blue bar height of Figure 2b; T the tumor one; i.e., the red bars)
Summary
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide with an increasing trend with age, and second in causing mortality in both sexes [1]. Considering the increasing incidence of this disease [1], its mortality and lethality, the impossibility of preventing its insurgence solely by changing the patient’s habits, and the lack of symptoms when it is reaching an advanced phase, screening programs are of paramount importance. Important is the follow-up of patients that have undergone surgery and/or chemo-radiotherapy, to assess the therapy’s efficacy. Since tumor growth is associated with modifications in cell metabolism, in recent years, the scientific community has focused on detecting molecules discharged by this metabolism in blood, feces, urine, breath, etc., or in samples surgically removed from patients. The molecules so far identified are: Nanomaterials 2020, 10, 606; doi:10.3390/nano10040606 www.mdpi.com/journal/nanomaterials
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