The 2014 Annual European Respiratory Conference (ERS) was held in Munich, Germany. A study presented at the meeting attracted a great deal of attention from scholars and was reported on the Medscape website. The study concluded that an exhaled breath temperature above 34°C is highly suggestive of lung cancer. The study included 82 patients with suspected lung cancer, 96% of whom were eventually diagnosed with lung cancer. Dr. Giulia Scioscia, from Barcelona, Spain, believes that airway inflammation and angiogenesis play an important role in the pathogenesis of lung cancer. Exhaled air temperature has been shown to predict airway inflammation and increased angiogenic status. The aim of the study was to clarify the correlation of exhaled breath with tumor progression, metastasis and other clinical indicators. To clarify the relationship between exhaled breath temperature and lung cancer. The researchers enrolled 82 consecutive patients with an imaging suspicion of lung cancer and used the X-Halo (DelmedicaInvestments) exhaled breath thermometer to measure exhaled breath temperature. Forty patients were subsequently diagnosed with lung cancer, and another 42 patients without lung cancer served as controls. All subjects were asked to undergo a standardized diagnostic and staging process. Exhaled breath temperature was categorized by sex, age, smoking status, and the presence of COPD in the lung cancer and control groups. Regardless of which of these criteria was used, the exhaled breath temperature was significantly higher in the lung cancer group than in the control group. The researchers then used ROC curves to determine the ideal temperature threshold for identifying lung cancer. The analysis yielded 34°C as the threshold value for identifying lung cancer. Lung cancer was diagnosed in 96% of the subjects with an exhaled breath temperature above 34°C. Exploratory study The researchers emphasized that the study was an exploratory study. One of the study’s participants, Giovanna Elisiana Carpagnano, MD, from the University of Foggia, Italy, believes that although the method is not very sensitive, it is likely to be used for lung cancer screening. The researchers next plan to include patients with other inflammatory diseases, thus improving the study overall. Dr. Fernando Gamarra, chair of the ERS Lung Cancer Group, found the study’s data to be meaningful and innovative, as no one else has yet conducted such a study, and noted that researchers should take into account other factors that can affect exhaled breath temperature, including the patient’s smoking status, exhalation rate, and the patient’s body size, which is increased in many people. It is worth looking forward to the ability of the test to diagnose early-stage lung cancer, as patients with early-stage lung cancer can benefit from lung cancer screening. Although the researchers have observed that exhaled breath temperatures are also elevated in patients with early-stage cancer, the patients included in the study were those who required hospital visits, suggesting that their disease was beyond the early stages. dr. Gamarra said he would prefer to see a study of a specific population, such as patients with stage 1 or 2 lung cancer.