We verified a screening method using canine scent detection of cancer and reported that it was possible to identify colorectal cancer with a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 99%, and that a distinctive odor appears when cancer develops. We identified the odorants produced by breast cancer cells and found that several moderate-volatile medium-chain fatty acids were present at high concentrations in the culture fluid derived from breast cancer cell lines. We reported that this may be related to the exhaled breath odor characteristic of cancer patients, which has been reported so far. Furthermore, breast cancer patients excrete more medium-chain fatty acids in their urine than normal subjects. We have confirmed that this is the case and are currently investigating the matter.

Currently, blood tests, endoscopy, and histopathology are conventionally used to diagnose cancer, but invasiveness and cost are issues. In recent years, noninvasive cancer diagnostic methods that probe the dynamics of the disease by comprehensively analyzing metabolites excreted from the human body have been attracting attention. Volatile organic compounds, in particular, have the potential to become a new disease diagnostic technique because of their high pathological correlation with the body. Still, their application to oral cancer has not yet progressed. In this paper, we report the development of a simple and noninvasive screening method for oral cancer using saliva samples from oral cancer patients, and the validation of its usefulness as a medical tool for biomarker discovery.

The development of multidisciplinary cancer treatment has improved the life prognosis of cancer patients. Furthermore, the development of the treatment using scent of essential oils is desired as a patient-friendly treatment with fewer side effects. We used liquid chromatography to identify thujopsen, an antitumor factor contained in Asunaro essential oil. The tumor growth inhibitory effect of thujopsen was analyzed using MTT assay. Compared to hinokitiol, an antitumor factor contained in Asunaro essential oil, thujopsen had a stronger tumor growth inhibitory effect and tended to have a narrower diffusion range. PKM2 was identified as a protein that binds thujopsen in cancer cells. Furthermore, when thujopsen was applied to cancer cells, intracellular lactic acid production was reduced. The above results indicate that thujopsen contained in Asunaro essential oil binds to PKM2 in cancer cells, inhibits the anaerobic metabolic pathway of cancer, suppresses the production of lactic acid, and induces cell death in cancer cells.

Shoot cultures of Allium macrostemon Bunge, were obtained and subcultured on 1/2 Murashige-Skoog solid medium. The fragrance constituents of A. macrostemon Bunge （wild plantlets and shoot cultures） were firstly identified by GC-MS analysis. The amount of aromatic compounds with some sulfur-containing components of the shoot cultures were lower than those of the wild plants. Tissue culture of A. macrostemon Bunge is useful for the mass propagation and long-term storage of this resource plantlet.