article_snippet.sent: A simple breath test that could help detect the early stages of stomach cancer has been developed by scientists.
article_snippet.sent: By looking for distinctive ‘breath prints’, researchers were also able to distinguish between patients at high and low risk of developing the disease.
article_snippet.sent: In and out: Thanks to a breath test, researchers claim there were able to detect the early stages of stomach cancer and also to distinguish between patients at high and low risk of developing the disease (stock image)
article_snippet.sent: About 7,000 people develop stomach cancer in the UK each year and most of these cases are in the advanced stages when About 7,000 people are diagnosed.
article_snippet.sent: Previous research has found that other methods could be used to identify stomach cancer, but none looked at detecting pre-cancerous changes.
article_snippet.sent: In the study published online in the journal Gut, breath samples were taken from 484 people, including 99 already diagnosed with stomach cancer.
article_snippet.sent: breath samples were analysed by so-called nanomaterial sensors, which are able to read a chemical signal or pattern linked with stomach cancer based on very small particles in a patient’s breath.
article_snippet.sent: The test is so accurate The test could detect the difference between early and late stage gastric cancers.
article_snippet.sent: The researchers hope the breath test could be used as an alternative to endoscopies, an invasive and expensive procedure to diagnose gastric cancers using a long flexible tube.
article_snippet.sent: A large trial involving thousands of patients, including those with stomach cancer or pre-cancerous changes, is currently under way in Europe to test the technology’s suitability as a screening method, A large trial involving thousands of patients, including those with stomach cancer or pre-cancerous changes add.
highlights_snippet.sent: About 7,000 people develop stomach cancer in the UK each year .