TOPIC 393: BREATH TEST FOR BIOMARKERS OF RADIATION EXPOSURE

The problemPatients receiving therapeutic radiation are at risk of adverse toxic effectsThese adverse events are usually unpredictable and may result in severe morbidity or mortalityExampleA third or more of patients receiving chest radiation for cancers of lung may develop life threatening acute radiation pneumonitisThe clinical needThere is a clinical need for an objective test to estimate the biologic response to therapeutic radiationSuch a test would identify patients at increased risk of an adverse event early in the course of treatmentand enable the treating physician to reduce the radiation dosageBreath testinga new solution to the problemBreath testing could provide a rational tool to estimate the biologic response to radiation therapybecause radiation causes oxidative stress in tissuesresulting in the excretion of volatile organic compoundsVOCsin the breathBreath biomarkers have accurately identified exposure to radiation in previous animal and human studiesBreathXan advanced new breath testing systemBreath X is a rapidcost effective and userfriendly system for detection of volatile biomarkers in breathBreath X employs ultra clean balloons for collection of breath samples that are analyzed with a comparatively inexpensive tabletop gas chromatographBreathX offers a new opportunity to rapidly test for biological response to radiation and potentially identify patients at risk of adverse toxic effectsProposed researchWe will validate the BreathX breath test as a new tool to estimate biological response to radiationThe short term objectivePhaseis to demonstrate proof of principle in animals and in in vitro studiesThe long term objectivePhaseis to validate the test in patients receiving therapeutic radiation in order to estimate their biologic response to radiation and to identify those at increased risk of an adverse eventPotential benefits of the researchA BreathX breath test during the earliest stage of therapeutic radiation could identify patients at increased risk of an adverse responseBy alerting the physician to adopt a reduced dosage plana BreathX breath test could benefit patients by reducing their risk of mortality and morbidityand also benefit the healthcare system by reducing the costs that would have resulted from adverse responses