The findings, presented at the 236th meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia this week, could open the door to the development of new methods to detect basal cell carcinomas and other forms of skin cancer.

For the study, the researchers sampled air above basal cell tumours and found a different profile of chemical compounds compared with skin located at the same sites in healthy control subjects.

They now plan to characterise skin odour profiles associated with other forms of skin cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.

sanjay.tanday@haymarket.com

236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society

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