The Scent of Skin Cancer
The Scent of Skin Cancer
Researchers at the Monell Science Center has recently published the finding that certain skin cancers may give off
volatile compounds in a pattern recognizable as basal cell skin cancer.
The authors report that about 100 volatile organic chemicals are detectable from the skin. The chemical footprint of basal cell skin cancers differed from the unaffected controls.
The authors are hopeful that a hand held device may one day be developed to aid in detecting basal cells on skin screenings.
Primary source: American Chemical Society Annual Meeting
Source reference:
Gallagher M et al. “Detecting skin cancer using volatile biomarkers” ACS 2008; abstract AGFD 227.
Additional source: British Journal of Dermatology
Source reference:
Gallagher M et al. “Analyses of volatile organic compounds from human skin” Brit J Derm 2008;