Determination of volatile organic compounds as biomarkers of lung cancer by SPME–GC–TOF/MS and chemometrics

A method for qualitative and quantitative the determination of concentrations volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in human breath samples using solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography–time of flight–mass spectrometry (GC–TOF/MS) has been carried out. They are employed for the preconcentration, separation and analysis of biological samples. The technique to rapid determination compounds present in human air, at the level of parts per billion (ppb) is applied. This method was optimized and evaluated. It showed linear correlations ranging from 0.83 to 234.05 ppb, limit of detection in the range of 0.31 to 0.75 ppb and precision, expressed as the RSD, was less then 10.00%. The unique combination of statistical methods allowed reduce the number of compounds to significant ones only and indicate the potential way to find the biomarkers of the lung cancer. Presented an analytical and statistical methods for detection composition of exhaled air could be applied as a potential non-intrusive tool for screening of lung cancer.