Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., killing about 53,000 people each year. Traditionally thought of as a disease affecting the middle-aged and elderly, clinicians are seeing a rising number of cases in younger adults.

Currently, colonoscopies are the most effective early-detection method, scanning for visible changes in the colon. But they are invasive, a fact that often deters patients from getting screened.

“We really need diagnostic tests that are less invasive so that more people will adhere to recommended screening guidelines. Tests also need to be sensitive so we can catch colorectal cancer in its early stages, when it is the most treatable,” said Leslie Chan, assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.

Chan and her lab are trying to meet that need. And the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is backing her with a prestigious $2.9 million R37 grant to develop cutting-edge technology that could detect colorectal cancer (CRC) through a simple breath test.

Chan and her team are creating ingestible nanosensors that sense dysregulated enzyme activities in the gastrointestinal tract — molecular-scale changes that occur during early tumor development. When the sensors detect these changes, they release volatile compounds exhaled in breath, basically creating synthetic breath biomarkers for CRC detection.

“What’s great is, our nanosensors will be made from compounds that are safe to ingest and are already found in our diets,” Chan explained. “For the volatile reporters, we’re using natural compounds and commonly-used additives that provide food with scent and flavor. We’ve worked with fruity and floral scents, as well as less pleasant smells like burnt rubber. This part of nanosensor development adds a little whimsy to an otherwise serious mission.”