#AI reads Urine# Gas Biopsy for Pan-Cancer Mice Early Screening by Untargeted Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Metabolic VOCs
Published 18 July, 2025
This paper mainly focuses on a study about early screening for multiple cancers by detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Researchers induced various cancers (in the lung, stomach, liver, esophagus, etc.) in mice using a chemical substance (DEN-ethanol). Then, over a period of 21 weeks, they regularly collected urine, feces, and odor samples from these cancerous mice and healthy mice.
They used a technique called headspace solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) to analyze the VOCs in the samples. Through statistical methods, they identified VOCs that can reflect cancer characteristics in different samples and determined the earliest time points for cancer screening.
For example, 2-butanol and propyl propionate in urine, 3-methylbutanal and 2-methylbutanal in feces, 2-pentanone and benzothiazole in odor, etc. The contents of these VOCs in cancerous mice and healthy mice are significantly different, and their content changes follow a pattern as the cancer progresses.
Subsequently, researchers verified using various analytical methods and found that these characteristic VOCs can well distinguish whether a mouse has cancer and the stage of cancer development. Among them, urine samples performed relatively well in early screening, and abnormalities could be detected at an earlier time (around the 5th week), followed by odor samples, and fecal samples were a little later.
However, this study was conducted on mice. Although the results are good, further verification on humans is still needed. In general, this study shows that the non-invasive method of detecting VOCs is expected to realize early screening for multiple cancers, providing new ideas and references for cancer diagnosis.
J Proteome Res. 2025 Jul 9. doi: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.5c00255.
Gas Biopsy for Pan-Cancer Mice Early Screening by Untargeted Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Metabolic VOCs
Youhe Gao
Statement: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used Doubao / AI reading for summarizing the content. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the published article.
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