Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is defined as measuring concentrations of a drug at one or more time points in a biological matrix after a dose. The purpose of TDM is to individualize the drug dose to achieve maximum efficacy and at the same time minimize toxicity. The concept of TDM could potentially be even more valuable if in addition to drug concentrations, other drug-regulated and drug-related metabolites could be included in the models to define optimal dosage. There exists a clinical need to stratify patients with better precision to improve current clinical and therapeutic management. Breath analysis offers an opportunity to non-invasively retrieve relevant information on the ongoing internal biochemical processes, as well as to monitor the respiratory system itself. For breath analysis, a Secondary Electrospray ionization - mass spectrometry (SESI-MS) breath analysis platform will be used to capture disease-related, drug-regulated and drug-related metabolites (breath metabolomics) in exhaled breath. This information, retrieved in parallel to standard of care clinical co-variates, could have the potential to provide a more personalized therapeutic management of patients.
This study is to investigate breath analysis (breath metabolomics) combined with established bioinformatic tools as a platform for companion diagnostics.