细胞新陈代谢的变化会导致挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）类型及含量发生变化，因此可通过分析某些标志性VOCs简立起多种疾病早期诊断的模型. 人体呼出物中特征VOCs的检测作为一种非侵入性、无损的检测手段，近些年在疾病检测领域已成为世界范围内的研究热点. 其中，纳米材料可用于增强传感器性能，并使传感器便携式小型化，推进检测传感器进入临床. 在这篇综述中，作者将种类繁多的传感器中用到的纳米材料归纳总结为金属、金属氧化物、碳基、复合物和MOFs基纳米材料等几类，并讨论了不同类纳米材料在VOCs检测中的优劣势. 本文所建立起的分析方法及讨论有助于进一步了解检测技术的优越性与局限性. 最后，作者对利用VOCs的检测实现癌症早期筛选的研究及发展提出了个人观点.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) generated in human body can reflect one’s health state, and numerous diseases are identified by some VOCs biomarkers. More recently, analyses of VOCs biomarkers from exhaled breath have turned into a research frontier worldwide because it offers a noninvasive way for diseases diagnosis. Various kinds of nanomaterials are used to enhance the performance of sensing techniques, and play an essential role in miniaturization detection. In this review, several kinds of nanomaterials (metallic, metal oxide, carbon-based, composites and MOFs-based materials) used in various VOCs detection methods, especially in VOCs sensors are summarized. Learning from the successful utilization of nanomaterials in these methods will help to further understand the superiority and limitation of detection techniques. A personal perspective of the research and development in exhaled breath VOCs detection for cancer diagnosis has been presented.