Breath test for blood cancer shows promise in first-ever human study

When you breathe out, you're not just releasing carbon dioxide. Your breath carries a complex mix of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs—tiny molecules that come from normal body processes. These compounds hold surprising clues about your health, and scientists are beginning to decode what they reveal about cancer, including cancers of the blood.

For the first time, researchers have discovered that VOCs in your breath could help detect blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. A study led by scientists at Queen Mary University of London, published in HemaSphere, shows that analyzing breath samples might offer a fast, painless way to catch these deadly diseases early.

VOC analysis has already shown promise in detecting solid tumors like those in the lungs, pancreas, and breasts. These cancers change the body’s metabolism, leading to the release of specific chemicals into sweat, urine, and exhaled air. But until now, blood cancers hadn’t been part of the breath test picture—even though they travel through the bloodstream, the same system responsible for exchanging gases in the lungs.

That changed when Dr. John Riches, Clinical Reader at Barts Cancer Institute, and his team asked a simple question: if breath reflects what's happening in the blood, could it also reflect blood cancer?

“Previous studies have shown the value of using breath tests to detect lung cancer,” Dr. Riches said. “But no one had ever investigated whether blood cancer cells release molecules that pass into the breath, despite the purpose of breathing being to exchange substances between the blood and the breath.”

Between August 2020 and March 2022, the researchers collected breath samples from 74 volunteers: 46 with newly diagnosed blood cancer and 28 healthy individuals. All the patients had either acute leukemia or high-grade lymphoma and were tested before receiving major cancer treatments.

The team used a device called the ReCIVA Breath Sampler, developed by Owlstone Medical, to capture air from the lungs while excluding air from the mouth and throat. Each person breathed into the device for 8 to 12 minutes, while pressure sensors monitored their breathing and ensured accurate sample collection.

Not every sample made the cut. After careful quality control, the researchers analyzed breath samples from 36 cancer patients and 27 healthy controls. These included people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and high-grade lymphoma.

The breath samples were sent through the OMNI Breath Biopsy® Platform and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry—a method that separates and identifies chemicals based on their mass and charge. The researchers then compared the breath compounds with those in well-known libraries from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Owlstone’s own database.

In total, the team identified 394 molecular features. Of those, 315 were tentatively matched to known chemicals, with 49 confirmed using more accurate methods. The goal? To find a VOC signature that could clearly tell who had blood cancer and who didn’t.

One standout finding was that patients with high-grade lymphoma had significantly higher levels of VOCs linked to oxidative stress. This process damages cell membranes and plays a known role in the development of cancer. When fats in your cells break down from oxidative stress, they release specific compounds—many of which are exhaled in breath.

By comparing these molecular fingerprints, the researchers were able to see a clear pattern that distinguished cancer patients from healthy individuals. This suggests breath tests could one day act like a non-invasive cancer "sniffer," detecting the disease long before it causes obvious symptoms.

Early symptoms of blood cancer—fatigue, weight loss, or frequent infections—are often mistaken for other illnesses. Many patients face delays in diagnosis, waiting for biopsies or scans that may be hard to access, especially in rural or low-resource areas. That’s why this new research could be a game changer.

Every year in the UK, about 40,000 people are diagnosed with blood cancer, and roughly 16,000 die from the disease. The earlier it’s caught, the better the chances of survival. But current diagnostic tools like imaging or tissue biopsies are costly, uncomfortable, and not always available in every clinic or hospital.

A breathalyser for blood cancer could flip that script. Breath tests are simple, portable, and don't require needles, machines, or lab staff. According to Dr. Riches, “Rather than sending patients away for costly scans and waiting for test results, doctors may be able to conduct a quick breath test in their clinic room and potentially have the results within a few seconds.”

This is especially helpful for developing countries and rural areas, where access to advanced medical tools is limited. A lightweight breath analysis device could bring life-saving diagnostics into communities that currently go without.

While the results are promising, more work lies ahead. Researchers need to better understand how different types of blood cancer produce these breath-based molecules and whether some cancers are easier to detect than others. They also hope to reduce the breath collection time—from ten minutes to just a few seconds—so the test can be even faster and easier to use.

Future studies will aim to include more patients, explore other subtypes of blood cancer, and refine the technology to make the results more accurate. If all goes well, a breath-based blood cancer test could soon move from the lab to the clinic.

Breath analysis may seem like science fiction, but it’s quickly becoming a reality. By detecting hidden signals in the air you exhale, doctors may soon diagnose serious diseases like blood cancer without needles or scans. The work led by Dr. Riches marks an exciting step forward in non-invasive medicine—one that could save lives through earlier detection, better monitoring, and easier access to care.

Note: The article above provided above by The Brighter Side of News.

Like these kind of feel good stories? Get The Brighter Side of News' newsletter.