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Invasive melanoma in vivo can be distinguished from basal cell carcinoma, benign naevi and healthy skin by canine olfaction: a proof-of-principle study of differential volatile organic compound emission

Willis, CM; Britton, LE; Swindells, MA; Jones, EM; Kemp, AE; Muirhead, NL; Gul, A; ... Ali, M; + view all (2016) Invasive melanoma in vivo can be distinguished from basal cell carcinoma, benign naevi and healthy skin by canine olfaction: a proof-of-principle study of differential volatile organic compound emission. British Journal of Dermatology , 175 (5) pp. 1020-1029. 10.1111/bjd.14887. Green open access

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Abstract

Background: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are continuously released by the body during normal metabolic processes, but their profiles change in the presence of cancer. Robust evidence that invasive melanoma in vivo emits a characteristic VOC signature is lacking. / Objectives: To conduct a canine olfactory, proof-of-principle study to investigate whether VOCs from invasive melanoma are distinguishable from those of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), benign naevi and healthy skin in vivo. / Methods: After a 13-month training period, the dog's ability to discriminate melanoma was evaluated in 20 double-blind tests, each requiring selection of one melanoma sample from nine controls (three each of BCC, naevi and healthy skin; all samples new to the dog). / Results: The dog correctly selected the melanoma sample on nine (45%) occasions (95% confidence interval 0·23–0·68) vs. 10% expected by chance alone. A one-sided exact binomial test gave a P-value of < 0·01, supporting the hypothesis that samples were not chosen at random but that some degree of VOC signal from the melanoma samples significantly increased the probability of their detection. Use of a discrete-choice model confirmed melanoma as the most influential of the recorded medical/personal covariates in determining the dog's choice of sample. Accuracy rates based on familiar samples during training were not a reliable indicator of the dog's ability to distinguish melanoma, when confronted with new, unknown samples. / Conclusions: Invasive melanoma in vivo releases odorous VOCs distinct from those of BCC, benign naevi and healthy skin, adding to the evidence that the volatile metabolome of melanoma contains diagnostically useful biomarkers.

Type: Article
Title: Invasive melanoma in vivo can be distinguished from basal cell carcinoma, benign naevi and healthy skin by canine olfaction: a proof-of-principle study of differential volatile organic compound emission
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1111/bjd.14887
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjd.14887
Language: English
Additional information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Willis, CM; Britton, LE; Swindells, MA; Jones, EM; Kemp, AE; Muirhead, NL; Gul, A; (2016) Invasive melanoma in vivo can be distinguished from basal cell carcinoma, benign naevi and healthy skin by canine olfaction: a proof-of-principle study of differential volatile organic compound emission. British Journal of Dermatology, 175 (5) pp. 1020-1029, which has been published in final form at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjd.14887. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
Keywords: science & technology, life sciences & biomedicine, dermatology, diagnostic accuracy, prostate cancer, dogs, dermoscopy, disease, scent, odor, biomarkers, urine, trial
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Statistical Science
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1531762
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