Identification of Olfactory Biomarkers of Skin Cancer From Skin Odor Samples: a Pilot Study

The SCENT-SKIN-001 exploratory study aims to identify olfactory biomarkers associated with skin cancers. Body odor samples will be collected from patients with skin cancers at the level of the skin lesion, the area contralateral to the skin lesion, the axillary fossa, the neck, the forearm and the inner thigh, and from healthy subjects at the level of the axillary fossa, the neck, the forearm and the inner thigh. Samples will be analyzed by thermodesorption followed by fully two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TD-GCxGC/ToFMS). This sample characterization method can separate a much higher number of compounds than the simple GC-MS technique. It has been developed in collaboration with the team at the Laboratoire de Sciences Analytiques, Bioanalytiques et Miniaturisation (LSABM), École Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielle de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris), and is the subject of a doctoral thesis in analytical chemistry. As part of this analytical method, we have developed a skin VOC sampling device. This is designed to avoid any form of contamination by environmental factors that could influence sample quality. The study will be carried out on patients newly diagnosed with malignant melanoma, basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, and on "healthy" subjects with no skin cancer. 60 skin cancer patients (20 with Malignant Melanoma, 20 with Basal Cell Carcinoma and 20 with Epidermoid Carcinoma) and 20 to 60 healthy subjects will be included in the study. Thus, the study will involve 80 to 120 people. The study will be carried out in French hospitals, as well as in a center authorized by the Agence Régionale de Santé (ARS) to conduct clinical trials on healthy subjects.