PAN Alimentary Cancer Exhaled breath Analysis (PANACEA)

A breath test could one day help GPs spot hidden gut cancers before they spread. Each year in the UK, more than 44,000 people die from gastrointestinal cancers—including cancers of the oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, and bowel—because their early symptoms mimic harmless conditions like indigestion or irritable bowel syndrome. This project aims to confirm whether a simple breath sample can reliably detect molecules that are specific to these cancers, and to study how such a test could be introduced in primary care. The researchers are also gathering views from patients and clinicians on what would make the test work in the NHS, and analysing whether it would be cost-effective to use at scale. If successful, the breath test could become a routine, non-invasive screening tool in GP surgeries, catching cancers earlier when treatment is more likely to succeed. That would shift the diagnostic pathway for gut cancers from hospital-based endoscopy and imaging to a quick, low-cost test in a community setting—potentially saving thousands of lives each year without adding major strain to the health system.