Identification of volatile metabolites in human saliva from patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma via zeolite-based thin-film microextraction coupled with GC-MS.

In recent years, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) discharged from the human body, of which some compounds exhibit strong correlations with pathological conditions, have attracted attention as a new means of disease diagnosis technology. The aim of this study was to establish the salivary metabolomic profiles of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients and healthy volunteers (control group) and to investigate VOCs as potential biomarkers in the diagnosis of oral cancer. We have demonstrated a method combining thin-film microextraction based on a ZSM-5/polydimethylsiloxane hybrid film coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and carried out a comparative analysis of salivary VOC profiles between OSCC patients and healthy controls.