NON INVASIVE CANCER DETECTION: FROM BENCH TO BEDSIDE

Abstract

Cancer stands second in causing mortality worldwide. Cancer can be curable if the disease is identified at early stages. All the existing gold standard cancer diagnosing procedures were invasive and expensive. Mass screening for cancer could save a lot of lives. The diagnostic procedure should be non-invasive, low-cost and easy to use to implement mass screening. This thesis investigated the possible non-invasive modalities of cancer diagnosis using in vitro cell culture models. The volatile based cancer diagnosis was identified as the suitable non-invasive modality for mass screening and translated into a clinical study, where the volatile cancer markers were identified using end-tidal exhaled breath. A novel plant inspired, robust, low-cost, eco-friendly and easy to use chemiresistive volatile sensor array was developed. In future, this novel sensor array could be used as diagnostic tool for detecting cancer.