The development of non-invasive screening techniques for early cancer detection is one of the greatest scientific challenges of the 21st century. One promising emerging method is the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are low molecular weight substances generated as final products of cellular metabolism and emitted through a variety of biological matrices, such as breath, blood, saliva and urine. Urine stands out for its non-invasive nature, availability in large volumes, and the high concentration of VOCs in the kidneys. This review provides an overview of the available data on urinary VOCs that have been investigated in cancer-focused clinical studies using mass spectrometric (MS) techniques. A literature search was conducted in ScienceDirect, Pubmed and Web of Science, using the keywords “Urinary VOCs”, “VOCs biomarkers” and “Volatile cancer biomarkers” in combination with the term “Mass spectrometry”. Only studies in English published between January 2011 and May 2020 were selected. The three most evaluated types of cancers in the reviewed studies were lung, breast and prostate, and the most frequently identified urinary VOC biomarkers were hexanal, dimethyl disulfide and phenol; with the latter seeming to be closely related to breast cancer. Additionally, the challenges of analyzing urinary VOCs using MS-based techniques and translation to clinical utility are discussed. The outcome of this review may provide valuable information to future studies regarding cancer urinary VOCs.

开发用于早期癌症检测的无创筛查技术是 21 世纪最大的科学挑战之一。一种有前途的新兴方法是分析挥发性有机化合物 (VOC)。VOC 是作为细胞代谢最终产物产生的低分子量物质，并通过各种生物基质（例如呼吸、血液、唾液和尿液）排放。尿液以其非侵入性、大量可用性和肾脏中高浓度 VOC 的特点而著称。本综述概述了使用质谱 (MS) 技术在以癌症为重点的临床研究中研究的尿液 VOC 的可用数据。在 ScienceDirect、Pubmed 和 Web of Science 中进行了文献检索，使用关键字“Urinary VOCs”，“VOCs 生物标志物”和“挥发性癌症生物标志物”与术语“质谱”相结合。仅选择了 2011 年 1 月至 2020 年 5 月期间发表的英文研究。在审查的研究中，评估最多的三种癌症类型是肺癌、乳腺癌和前列腺癌，最常见的尿液 VOC 生物标志物是己醛、二甲基二硫醚和苯酚；后者似乎与乳腺癌密切相关。此外，还讨论了使用基于 MS 的技术分析尿液 VOC 并将其转化为临床应用的挑战。本综述的结果可能为未来关于癌症尿 VOC 的研究提供有价值的信息。在审查的研究中，评估最多的三种癌症类型是肺癌、乳腺癌和前列腺癌，最常见的尿液 VOC 生物标志物是己醛、二甲基二硫醚和苯酚；后者似乎与乳腺癌密切相关。此外，还讨论了使用基于 MS 的技术分析尿液 VOC 并将其转化为临床应用的挑战。本综述的结果可能为未来关于癌症尿 VOC 的研究提供有价值的信息。在审查的研究中，评估最多的三种癌症类型是肺癌、乳腺癌和前列腺癌，最常见的尿液 VOC 生物标志物是己醛、二甲基二硫醚和苯酚；后者似乎与乳腺癌密切相关。此外，还讨论了使用基于 MS 的技术分析尿液 VOC 并将其转化为临床应用的挑战。本综述的结果可能为未来关于癌症尿 VOC 的研究提供有价值的信息。讨论了使用基于 MS 的技术分析尿液 VOC 并将其转化为临床应用的挑战。本综述的结果可能为未来关于癌症尿 VOC 的研究提供有价值的信息。讨论了使用基于 MS 的技术分析尿液 VOC 并将其转化为临床应用的挑战。本综述的结果可能为未来关于癌症尿 VOC 的研究提供有价值的信息。