"If colon cancer screening was as easy as taking a breath more people might do it. Now a small pilot study suggests such a test could be developed.    The study of  people with and without colon cancer found that those with the disease tended to have a distinct pattern of chemicals in their breath. And when researchers analyzed the study participants breath samples they correctly identified the colon cancer patients  percent of the time.    The findings reported online Dec.  in the British Journal of Surgery sound good. But if youre waiting for your doctor to offer such a test dont hold your breath.    Its an interesting concept but this is in the very early stages said Dr. Durado Brooks director of prostate and colorectal cancers for the American Cancer Society.    Theres no way to tell if this would work in the general population said Brooks who was not involved in the research.    Whats more he added there are already several good ways to catch colon cancer  or even better precancerous growths called polyps which can then be removed before a tumor develops. Yet about  percent of Americans who should be getting screened are not.    Colon cancer is a highly preventable disease Brooks said. And I would encourage the four out of  people who are not taking advantage of the existing screening tools to talk with their doctor.    The idea of using a breath test to catch cancer is not new Researchers are looking into breath tests for detecting a number of cancers including lung and breast tumors. Its all based on studies showing that breath samples from cancer patients tend to have a distinguishing pattern of socalled volatile organic compounds VOCs.    When it comes to colon cancer people already have several options for screening which for most adults should begin at age   or possibly earlier if you are at higherthannormal risk.    The choices include a yearly stool test that looks for hidden blood or either of two invasive tests that scope the colon sigmoidoscopy every five years along with stool testing every three years or colonoscopy every  years.    But many people are turned off by those tests.    So Dr. Donato Altomare and colleagues at the University Aldo Moro in Bari Italy decided to test the feasibility of a breath test.    Analyzing breath samples from  patients with colon cancer and  healthy middleaged adults the researchers found  VOCs that seemed to differ between the two groups.    They then used a statistical model to see if certain VOC patterns separated the colon cancer patients from the healthy participants. In the end the researchers were able to correctly identify the cancer patients  percent of the time.    But Brooks pointed out that also means the breath test was wrong about onequarter of the time.    Theres no way of knowing how well such a screening test would work in the real world  including how many people might wrongly get a positive result and undergo needless invasive tests to follow up Brooks said.    Another big question he added is whether breath analysis could pinpoint people with colon polyps.    One of our goals in screening is to detect polyps not cancer Brooks said. This study doesnt address that.    Altomares team acknowledges that there is a lot of work left to do. Its still unclear which breath chemicals should be measured or what statistical method is best for weeding out cases of colon cancer.    Brooks said it would be nice to have a very simple accurate screening test  whether that means a breath test or blood or urine tests. Yearly stool tests are simple and cheap but people often dont want to do them.    Were always searching for simpler things to do Brooks said. But for now he added this study raises many more questions than answers.    More information  Learn more about colon cancer from the U.S. National Cancer Institute.  SOURCES Durado Brooks M.D. director prostate and colorectal cancers American Cancer Society Dec.   British Journal of Surgery online"