According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, claiming one in every six lives. Colon cancer (CoC) is the most common cancer affecting both males and females, with a predicted morbidity rate of 75% by 2040. CoC patients remain asymptomatic in the early stages of the disease, with symptoms typically detected only at advanced stages (stages 3 and 4), leading to a high mortality rate (50%).
Currently, the most effective clinical method for the detection of CoC is colonoscopy, a time-consuming and non-invasive procedure. This gold standard technique requires experienced medical personnel, has high procedural costs, causes discomfort to most patients, and carries the possibility of iatrogenic trauma. Other clinical non-invasive imaging techniques are available (i.e. MRI, PET/CT), however they are often prone to misinterpretation due to the presence of heterogeneous artifacts, and are typically reserve for verification and differential diagnosis. A low-cost, rapid, non-invasive, and accurate screening technique is highly important for the early diagnosis of asymptomatic cancers and increase of the survival rate, especially in health systems of low- and middle income countries.
The CanSENS research project aims to develop a breath analysis device for early stage CoC screening based on Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). This device will be engineered as a clinical diagnostic assay, aimed toward the developments of a universal breath analysis platform, which can potentially be expanded to detect other cancers or diseases.
Therefore, collecting exhaled breath samples from patients is easy, non-invasive, pain-free, and suitable for critically ill patients (i.e. in intensive care units) or children. The proposed non-invasive SERS-based gas-sensing device has the prospect of being used as supplementary technique to the primary screening method currently being used in cancer diagnosis globally. This will allow a further increase of detection at early stages (stage 1 and 2) of the disease and effectively reduce its mortality rate.
The overall objective of the project is the development of a low-cost SERS-based gas-sensing platform with the goal of enabling screening of early stage CoC via an annual routine doctor visit, as well as monitoring treatment progression an recurrence in patients.
