IWK Health becomes first site in Nova Scotia to join Breathe BioMedical’s multi-center study to advance development of its technology for early detection of breast cancer in women
Moncton, New Brunswick and Cambridge, Massachusetts--(Newsfile Corp. - October 7, 2026) - Breathe BioMedical, a company developing a breath analytics platform for early disease detection, today announced that the Breast Health Research Unit (BHRU) at IWK Health has joined as the second Canadian site in its large multi-center observational data collection study to advance the development of its technology for the early detection of breast cancer for women with dense breasts, as an adjunct to mammography.
The study is being co-led in Halifax, Nova Scotia by Dr. Gregory Knapp and Dr. Zina Kellow, who will oversee the collection of breath samples from participants at IWK Health in Halifax. Researchers will compare the breath profiles of people with breast cancer and those without breast cancer, with the goal of identifying disease-specific patterns that can be used to aid in breast cancer detection.
IWK Health's participation marks another important milestone for the study, extending it beyond the United States and New Brunswick and adding a larger Canadian patient population. This broader geographic and demographic representation strengthens the robustness of the machine learning algorithm Breathe BioMedical is developing. The research is exploring whether breath analysis could have a future role as a complementary tool alongside mammography.
"This study allows us to contribute high-quality data from a Nova Scotian population to a question that matters to every patient I see in clinic: whether a simple, non-invasive test can complement existing approaches to help us detect breast cancer sooner, particularly in women with dense breasts," said Dr. Gregory Knapp, Co-Director of the Breast Health Research Unit at IWK Health, surgical oncologist in the Breast Health Program at IWK Health and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Dalhousie University.
"Mammography remains the standard in Nova Scotia for breast cancer screening in the average risk population. Research into additional approaches that may one day supplement current screening recommendations, using Canadian generated data, may allow us to offer more options for enhanced screening options in the future," said Dr. Zina Kellow, breast radiologist, Assistant Professor of Radiology at Dalhousie University and Co-Director of Education for the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging. "I am pleased that women in Nova Scotia will be contributing to furthering our knowledge in this field."
Preliminary analysis of Breathe BioMedical's breast cancer proof-of-concept study, conducted in Saint John, New Brunswick, found 88.2% accuracy (92.9% sensitivity, 80.0% specificity) in differentiating between the breath signatures of women with early-stage breast cancer, compared to those without breast cancer, irrespective of breast density. This current study compares the breath profiles of women from a diverse patient population across a range of demographics and geographic areas to further develop Breathe BioMedical's technology.
"As we expand our clinical study with new partners, we are accelerating the collection of reliable data to advance our technology," said Bill Dawes, President and CEO of Breathe BioMedical. "We look forward to working with Dr. Knapp and Dr. Kellow to help develop better early detection options for women."
Many women eligible for breast cancer screening have dense breast tissue. Although mammography is the current gold standard for breast cancer screening, the interpretation of a mammogram is challenged by reduced visibility with dense breast tissue, because both cancer and dense breast tissue appear white on a mammogram.
About Breathe BioMedical's Technology
Exhaled breath contains chemicals called Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). These VOCs are a byproduct of metabolism, travel through the blood stream, and are excreted in breath during alveolar gas exchange in the lungs. These compounds and changes in them can provide insights about the state of an individual's health, environmental exposure, and about how the body reacts to changes that may be a result of disease.
Breathe BioMedical has developed a Breath Sampler that allows individuals to provide a breath sample which can then be analyzed for combinations of disease-specific patterns which may be indicative of disease. The sampler collects alveolar breath stored on industry standard sorbent tubes which are transported to our central laboratory. The sample is then processed using our proprietary Spectrometer, with detection capability to parts per trillion levels, producing a spectrographic data set. The Machine Learning Algorithms (MLA) are applied to the spectrographic data set to identify disease-specific patterns that are associated with breast cancer.
About Breathe BioMedical
Breathe BioMedical is developing an innovative breath analytics platform to enable the early detection of disease. Our proprietary breath analytics technology is designed to collect, process and analyze breath samples to identify disease-specific patterns associated with specific diseases. Breathe BioMedical is focused first on developing a breath test for breast cancer detection for women with dense breast tissue, as an adjunct to mammography, with the goal of increasing the detection of breast cancer identified at its earliest stages. Breathe BioMedical is headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick, with a US subsidiary in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We believe that one day detecting disease may be as easy as breathing.
About IWK Health
IWK Health is the Maritime region's leading health care and research centre dedicated to the well-being of women, children, youth and families, in all their diversity. In addition to providing highly specialized and complex care, the IWK provides certain primary care services and is a strong advocate for the health of families. The IWK is a global leader in research and knowledge sharing, and a partner in educating the next generation of health professionals. Visit www.iwk.nshealth.ca for more information.
For more information, please visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn.
Media:
Greg Kelly
Breathe BioMedical Inc.
greg.kelly@breathebiomedical.com
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/317699
The study is being co-led in Halifax, Nova Scotia by Dr. Gregory Knapp and Dr. Zina Kellow, who will oversee the collection of breath samples from participants at IWK Health in Halifax. Researchers will compare the breath profiles of people with breast cancer and those without breast cancer, with the goal of identifying disease-specific patterns that can be used to aid in breast cancer detection.
IWK Health's participation marks another important milestone for the study, extending it beyond the United States and New Brunswick and adding a larger Canadian patient population. This broader geographic and demographic representation strengthens the robustness of the machine learning algorithm Breathe BioMedical is developing. The research is exploring whether breath analysis could have a future role as a complementary tool alongside mammography.
"This study allows us to contribute high-quality data from a Nova Scotian population to a question that matters to every patient I see in clinic: whether a simple, non-invasive test can complement existing approaches to help us detect breast cancer sooner, particularly in women with dense breasts," said Dr. Gregory Knapp, Co-Director of the Breast Health Research Unit at IWK Health, surgical oncologist in the Breast Health Program at IWK Health and Assistant Professor of Surgery at Dalhousie University.
"Mammography remains the standard in Nova Scotia for breast cancer screening in the average risk population. Research into additional approaches that may one day supplement current screening recommendations, using Canadian generated data, may allow us to offer more options for enhanced screening options in the future," said Dr. Zina Kellow, breast radiologist, Assistant Professor of Radiology at Dalhousie University and Co-Director of Education for the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging. "I am pleased that women in Nova Scotia will be contributing to furthering our knowledge in this field."
Preliminary analysis of Breathe BioMedical's breast cancer proof-of-concept study, conducted in Saint John, New Brunswick, found 88.2% accuracy (92.9% sensitivity, 80.0% specificity) in differentiating between the breath signatures of women with early-stage breast cancer, compared to those without breast cancer, irrespective of breast density. This current study compares the breath profiles of women from a diverse patient population across a range of demographics and geographic areas to further develop Breathe BioMedical's technology.
"As we expand our clinical study with new partners, we are accelerating the collection of reliable data to advance our technology," said Bill Dawes, President and CEO of Breathe BioMedical. "We look forward to working with Dr. Knapp and Dr. Kellow to help develop better early detection options for women."
Many women eligible for breast cancer screening have dense breast tissue. Although mammography is the current gold standard for breast cancer screening, the interpretation of a mammogram is challenged by reduced visibility with dense breast tissue, because both cancer and dense breast tissue appear white on a mammogram.
About Breathe BioMedical's Technology
Exhaled breath contains chemicals called Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). These VOCs are a byproduct of metabolism, travel through the blood stream, and are excreted in breath during alveolar gas exchange in the lungs. These compounds and changes in them can provide insights about the state of an individual's health, environmental exposure, and about how the body reacts to changes that may be a result of disease.
Breathe BioMedical has developed a Breath Sampler that allows individuals to provide a breath sample which can then be analyzed for combinations of disease-specific patterns which may be indicative of disease. The sampler collects alveolar breath stored on industry standard sorbent tubes which are transported to our central laboratory. The sample is then processed using our proprietary Spectrometer, with detection capability to parts per trillion levels, producing a spectrographic data set. The Machine Learning Algorithms (MLA) are applied to the spectrographic data set to identify disease-specific patterns that are associated with breast cancer.
About Breathe BioMedical
Breathe BioMedical is developing an innovative breath analytics platform to enable the early detection of disease. Our proprietary breath analytics technology is designed to collect, process and analyze breath samples to identify disease-specific patterns associated with specific diseases. Breathe BioMedical is focused first on developing a breath test for breast cancer detection for women with dense breast tissue, as an adjunct to mammography, with the goal of increasing the detection of breast cancer identified at its earliest stages. Breathe BioMedical is headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick, with a US subsidiary in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We believe that one day detecting disease may be as easy as breathing.
About IWK Health
IWK Health is the Maritime region's leading health care and research centre dedicated to the well-being of women, children, youth and families, in all their diversity. In addition to providing highly specialized and complex care, the IWK provides certain primary care services and is a strong advocate for the health of families. The IWK is a global leader in research and knowledge sharing, and a partner in educating the next generation of health professionals. Visit www.iwk.nshealth.ca for more information.
For more information, please visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn.
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Contacts:Media:
Greg Kelly
Breathe BioMedical Inc.
greg.kelly@breathebiomedical.com
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/317699