Detection of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in exhaled breath as a potential diagnostic method for oral squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma causes a significant proportion of global cancer morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the exhaled breath test can be a new, non-invasive, and effective method for diagnosing oral squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: A comparative analysis of exhaled breath between patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and healthy controls (HC) was performed with the Twin Breasor II™, a simple gas chromatography system. RESULTS: Both hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) and methyl mercaptan (Ch(3)SH) were significantly higher in the OSCC group than in the HC group. The total sulfur concentration was also higher in the OSCC group, but there was no significant difference in the ratio of Ch(3)SH to H(2)S between the two groups. Using logistic regression, we constructed a new variable with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.740, 68.0% sensitivity, and 72.0% specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Exhaled gas analysis via simple gas chromatography can potentially serve as an accessory non-invasive method for OSCC diagnosis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12903-022-02301-3.