New Test Might 'Smell' Early Stage Lung Cancer Mouse study
suggests changes in scent of urine could catch disease quickly
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists say they have
fashioned a new test that can detect lung cancer simply on the
basis of a tumor-causing change in the odor of bodily fluids.
The finding is so far based solely on work with mice, but
follow-up studies are underway to see if this novel approach
could aid in the early diagnosis of lung cancer in humans. "But
this work already proves, at least in principle, that tumors --
in this case lung cancer tumors in mice -- result in a change in
odors that ought to be useful for diagnostic purposes," observed
senior study author Gary K. Beauchamp, a biologist at Monell
Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Beauchamp and his
colleagues published their findings online in the January issue
of PLoS One. The authors noted that lung cancer is the leading
cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. According to the
American Cancer Society, nearly