Current Challenges in Volatile Organic Compounds Analysis as Potential Biomarkers of Cancer

Table 1

Analytical technique used, cancer cell lines studied, and type of matrix and control used in in vitro studies aiming to investigate VOCs as potential cancer biomarkers. DNTD: dynamic needle trap device; ESI: electrospray ionisation; GC-MS: gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; MC: multicolumn; Mm: metastatic melanoma cell; ns: not specified; NSCLC: non-small-cell lung cancer; p: preconcentration; PT: purge and trap; PTR-MS: proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry; RPG: radial growth cell; SCLC: small-cell lung cancer; SIFT-MS: selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry; SPME: solid phase microextraction; VPG: vertical growth cell.

Analytical technique used	Cancer type	Cell lines studied	Control	Type of matrix	Reference
SPME-GC-MS	Lung cancer	A549	OUS11 and WI-38 VA 13	Cell-free culture medium	[79]
SPME-GC-MS	Skin cancer	RPG: M35, WM3211, and Sbcl2; VPG: WM115 and WM983A; Mm: WM983B and WM1158	FOM136, FOM191, and pure medium	Cell-free culture medium	[70]
SPME-GC-MS	Lung cancer	A549, SK-MEM-1, and NCIH 446	BEAS2B	Cell-free culture medium	[76]
SPME-GC-MS	Colon cancer	SW1116 and SW480	NCM460, pure medium	Culture medium with cells	[69]
SPME-GC-MS	Lung cancer	Primary lung cancer cells	Primary normal cells (human lung cells, lipocytes, osteogenic cells, and rat taste bud cells)	Cell-free culture medium	[78]
SPME-GC-MS	Lung cancer	A549	Pure medium	Culture medium with cells	[87]
Nanosensors (quartz microbalances),; SPME-GC-MS	Melanoma, synovial sarcoma, and thyroid cancer	Primary cells	Pure medium	Culture medium with cells	[154]
Ultra II SKC-GC-MS,; nanosensors (gold nanoparticles)	Lung cancer	NSCLC: A549, Calu-3, H1650, H4006, H1435, H820, and H1975	Pure medium	Culture medium with cells	[123]
Ultra II SKC-GC-MS,; nanosensors (gold nanoparticles)	Lung cancer	NSCLC: A549, Calu-3, H1650, H4006, H1435, H820, H1975, H2009, HCC95, HCC15, H226, and NE18; SCLC: H774, H69, H187, and H526	IBE, pure medium	Culture medium with cells	[73]
ORBOTM 420 Tenax TA sorption tubes-GC-MS,; nanosensors (gold nanoparticles; single walled carbon nanotubes)	Liver cancer	MHCC97-H, MHCC97-L, HepG2, SMMC-7721, and BEL-7402	L-02	Culture medium with cells	[71]
PT-GC-MS	Lung cancer	Calu-1	Pure medium	Culture medium with cells	[15]
PT-GC-MS	Lung cancer	NCI-H2087	Pure medium	Culture medium with cells	[72]
PT-GC-MS	Lung cancer	A549	HBEpC, hFB, and pure medium	Culture medium with cells	[80]
DNTD-GC-MS	Liver cancer	HepG2	Pure medium	Culture medium with cells	[122]
pMC-GC-MS; (p: cryogenic)	Leukaemia	HL60	Pure medium	Culture medium with cells	[125]
SIFT-MS	Breast cancer	MCF-7 and MCF-7Adr	ns	Cell lysate	[155]
p-SIFT-MS; (p: distillation)	Breast, leukaemia, cervical, and prostate cancer	MCF-7, MCF-7Adr, HeLa S3, K562, LNCaP, and DU-145	Solid residue left after centrifugation	Cell lysate	[156]
p-SIFT-MS	Breast cancer	MCF-7 and MCF-7Adr	Solid residue left after centrifugation	Cell lysate	[157]
SIFT-MS	Lung cancer	CALU1	NL20, pure medium	Medium with cells	[81]
PTR-MS	Lung cancer	A549 and EPLC	hTERT-RPE1, BEAS2B, and pure medium	Medium with cells	[74]
SIFT-MS	Lung cancer	Calu1 and SK-MEM-1	Pure medium	Medium with cells	[82]
SIFT-MS	Lung cancer	Calu-1	NL20, 35FL121 Tel+, and pure medium	Medium with cells	[75]
Online (ESI)MS	Breast cancer	T47D, SKBR-3, and MDA-MB-231	HMLE	Cell-free culture medium	[77]