A study published in the October issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology showed that breath testing could be used to distinguish between lung nodules that were cancerous from those that were benign. Volatile organic compounds in the breath of people with lung cancer could be identified using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. This is a much simpler, more accurate, and less dangerous way of diagnosing lung cancer. CT scans cost more, give cancer causing radiation, and have a 96% false positive result.

Previous studies on breast cancer using "sniffer" dogs have shown this many years ago. It is not a surprise that there are specific volatile chemicals in the breath of people with lung cancer considering the complexity of how the body's physiology works. This new test may be extremely useful in the next few years.