SPE and Gas Chromatography Help Identify Lung Cancer

Reuters Health

has published an article that describes how Dr. Ping Wang of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, and his colleagues used solid-phase microextraction combined with

gas chromatography

(GC) to analyze exhaled volatile organic compound (VOC) markers to help with the diagnosis of lung cancer. The researchers identified 4 VOC markers that were found in all of the lung cancer culture media.

This is a significant break-through in the medical world, as GC can help diagnosis lung cancer.

LCGC has published a similar article that describes a method for the identification of VOC markers asscoaited with infection by Neisseria meningitidis bacteria by GC-MS.

The applications of chromatographic techniques continue to expand in the biological industry. GC allows us to to rapidly identify diseases through breath analysis. This technique is simple, quick, and non-invasive. Maybe one day, a GC system will be a common tool in medical offices. We'll breath into the GC system, and the analysis of our breath will provide the doctor with our diagnosis.