Table 2 Relative differences in compounds of interest between cancer and control patient groups.

From: Breath methane to hydrogen ratio as a surrogate marker of intestinal dysbiosis in head and neck cancer

Exhaled compounds

Controls (n = 61)

Cancer (n = 74)

p value

Median

Range

Median

Range

Hydrogen (ppm)

5.00

0–97

5.00

0–33

0.616

Methane (ppm)

3.00

0–50

5.00

0–58

0.697

CH4/H2 ratio

0.39

0–6.71

0.67

0–17.67

0.044*

Acetic acid (ppm)

0.31

0.05–6.66

0.28

0.05–4.79

0.620

Butanoic acid (ppm)

0.01

0–0.08

0.01

0–0.13

0.763

Formic acid (ppm)

0.11

0.04–13.40

0.13

0.04–3.14

0.620

Propanoic acid (ppm)

0.02

0–0.12

0.02

0–0.04

0.887

  1. Mann Whitney-U test for independent samples and Chi squared testing for contingency tables, BMI Body Mass Index, ppm parts per million, *Statistical significance (p < 0.05).
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