A new non-invasive lung cancer screening laboratory has been established in Shanghai’s Renji Hospital under a Sino-UK cooperation project.

It is the first such laboratory in Chinese mainland to carry out clinical trials for early-stage lung cancer screening and testing to improve the rate of identification, diagnosis and treatment of people with lung cancer.

The lab uses a technology called Breath Biopsy, which features a new method of measuring the chemical makeup of the breath by checking volatile organic compounds (VOCs), gaseous molecules that can be sampled quickly, and non-invasively enabling whole-body sampling. These compounds are produced as the end product of metabolic processes within the body, meaning that underlying changes in metabolic activity can produce particular patterns of VOCs characteristic of specific diseases, experts said.

VOCs originating from all parts of the body are captured in the breath, making Breath Biopsy applicable to a wide range of diseases including cancer, inflammatory disease, infectious disease, metabolic disease, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease.

Dr Wang Liwei, director of Renji Hospital’s oncology department, said lung cancer is the most prevalent cancer in China and that this non-invasive technology might encourage more people to receive screening, reducing medical costs and saving limited resources while improving the detection of early stage lung cancer.