Solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography mass spectrometry followed by multivariate data analysis for the identification of volatile organic compounds as possible biomarkers in lung cancer tissues

Solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatographyâ mass spectrometry followed by multivariate data analysis were used to analyze lung tissues from both healthy and carcinogenic patients. A total of 78 volatile compounds belonging to different chemical classes were identified, seven of which were able to discriminate between the two groups. Discriminant analysis allowed to correctly classify 98.3% of the cases. By using the leave-one-method, 100% of the cross-validated samples belonging to the â tumorâ group was correctly classified, whereas 2 cross-validated healthy samples out of 48 were erroneously allocated in the â tumorâ group. Achieved results suggest the need of further investigation to assess the role of the seven identified compounds as lung cancer biomarkers in breath analysis, thus allowing the development of low-cost diagnostic devices.