Utility of Volatile Organic Compounds and Electronic Nose Technology for Breast Cancer Detection: A Systematic Review

Breast cancer is a leading cause of mortality in women worldwide, primarily due to challenges in early detection and limited access to timely treatment. While mammography is widely used, it may produce false positives and lead to overdiagnosis. Recent advancements suggest that electronic nose technology, based on the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), may offer a complementary non-invasive approach to breast cancer screening. This systematic review evaluates current detection methods and explores the feasibility and diagnostic value of the electronic nose, assessing its integration into existing clinical strategies.

A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines.

Seventy-six original articles were included, alongside data from eight additional studies. Eligible studies were published in English or Spanish, evaluated VOCs as a breast cancer screening method, and reported identified VOCs. Systematic reviews, duplicates, editorials, and articles without full-text access were excluded. Information sources and search strategy: Searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library, and Science Direct between September and October 2024. Keywords included: volatile organic compounds, breath biomarkers, volatolomics, breast cancer, breast carcinoma, screening, detection, and electronic nose. A total of 581 articles were retrieved: 64 from PubMed, 44 from Web of Science, 152 from Wiley, and 321 from Science Direct.

Zotero was used for reference management and duplicate removal. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts; eligible full texts were reviewed, and discrepancies resolved by consensus.

A standardized form was used to collect author, publication year, population, intervention, comparator, main results, and analysis-relevant data. Three reviewers performed the extraction independently.