At present the only way to diagnose oesophageal cancer or stomach cancer is with endoscopy.
London: A new non-invasive test thatmeasures the levels of five chemicals in the breath may help detect stomach and oesophageal cancers, according to a large patient trial.
Together, stomach and oesophageal cancer account for around 1.4 million new cancer diagnoses each year worldwide, researchers said.
Both tend to be diagnosed late, because the symptoms are ambiguous, meaning the five-year survival rate for these two types of cancer is only 15 per cent. The new research, involving more than 300 patients, showed that the test could diagnose cancer with an overall accuracy of 85 per cent.