Patients with lung cancer have higher breath temperature

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to new research presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress in Munich, Germany, testing the temperature of breath may be an easy method to diagnose patients with lung cancer. In the study, researchers identified 82 patients to receive a breath temperature test after an x-ray examination suggested a diagnosis of lung cancer.

Researchers measured the patients' breath using an X-Halo device, a thermometer for breath. The X-Halo device confirmed lung cancer in 40 patients and rejected the diagnosis in 42 patients.

The researchers found that the patients with lung cancer had an increased breath temperature compared with those without lung cancer. In addition, the temperature rose with their lung cancer stage and the duration in which a patient had smoked. The researchers were also able to identify the cut-off temperature for which lung cancer could be proven accurately.

Researchers hope that they can refine this test to be used to diagnose patients with lung cancer by measuring their breath temperature. They suggest that the test would be simple, cheap, and noninvasive.