Screening for the Breast Cancer-Associated Volatile Organic Compounds by GC–MS With Solid Phase Microextraction

The use of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as noninvasive disease biomarkers has been explored as the basis for the diagnosis of human diseases. Although VOCs are of interest clinically, limited studies have been conducted because identifying disease-related VOCs and neglecting irrelevant variance in the data is still a formidable challenge. In our work, the VOCs in the headspace of breast cell medium and human exhaled gas were analyzed by solid-phase microextraction—gas chromatography—mass spectrometry. The common VOCs, which may be the breast cancer (BC)-associated VOCs, were identified by statistical analysis, including 1-butanol, cyclohexanone, nonanal, acetophenone, and benzyl alcohol. Then, after treatment of MCF-7 cells with letrozole, the levels of four VOCs were reduced. Five VOCs in exhaled breath of BC patients with drug therapy were decreased. It further proves that these VOCs are closely BC-associated VOCs. The study screened five BC-associated VOCs from in vitro cell VOCs and human exhaled breath, and provides basic research for VOCs that can be used in the screening of clinical diseases.