Study: Breath tests could help doctors predict stomach cancer

A microscope.
(Image credit: iStockphoto)

Researchers are hopeful that a breath test could let patients with stomach issues find out if they are at a higher risk of developing cancer.

Going off of the idea that people with cancer may have tiny chemical compounds in their breath that others do not have, researchers studied the breath samples of 145 people, including 30 patients who were known to have stomach cancer, the BBC reports. The scientists were easily able to distinguish cancerous samples from non-cancerous ones, and had success in finding pre-cancerous samples. They did misdiagnose some patients as being high risk for cancer when they were not.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.