There’s a new robotic technology that can discover lung cancer early in the body. According to a Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) Philadelphia report published on Tuesday, it doesn’t just detect the lung; it also has the ability to treat it at the same time. This latest technology is a huge breakthrough because, according to American Lung Association’s (ALA) annual report, lung cancer survival rates has gone up, thanks partially to this new technology.
The new statistics, the five-year survival rate is now estimated to be at 25%. There has been a successful trial with Kathleen McGinn. Kathleen found her cancer early and treated it with this new robotic procedure. “I’m very optimistic for my future,” Kathleen explained to CBS when interviewed about this robotic technology that can discover lung cancer early and how it had helped her.
This latest technology is called robotic bronchoscopy. The amazing perk about it is how it allows doctors to reach the small, remote parts of the human lung they can’t get to with regular tools. Even doctors are excited by its usefulness, one of such doctors is Dr. Partrick Ross with Main Line Health. He called it “revolutionary” because, in addition to spotting early-stage cancer, it also allows doctors like himself to treat it at the same time. And all of these is achieved while the patient remains under anesthesia. “When they wake up, we say you have lung cancer, and it’s treated. And that is all the difference,” Dr. Ross concluded with a smile.
The Need to Screen High-risk Patients
At the time, this new robotic technology that can discover Lung cancer early is mainly used on those who need a biopsy for a lung mass, but medical doctors say anyone at high-risk needs to get screened.
The ALA has been worried when the association found that former smokers who have access to the treatment are not getting the recommended screenings. Among these, an increasing number of young women and nonsmokers are being diagnosed with lung cancer. Both groups needed to practice more diligence in being examined. An example of this is Leah Phillip, a mom of three and a runner who never smoked a day in her life, but was surprisingly diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer at age 43.
“When they came back after the bone biopsy and said you have lung cancer, you could have knocked us over with a feather. My mom and my husband and I were all in the room,” Mrs Phillip reported to CBS News.
It wasn’t a surprising news, when the new State of Lung Cancer report confirmed that nearly 237,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed this year. This does not mean that all hope is lost for patients suffering from the disease.
“We’re up to 25% survival at five years, which is significantly up from the 17% survival in 2015. We attribute most of this to early detection, better treatments and systemic therapies for patients who have lung cancer that spread to other parts of the body,” reported Dr. Bobby Mahajan who was with the ALA.
Patients Who Don’t or Never Smoked
The statistics shows that currently up to 20% of people with lung cancer doesn’t smoke or have never smoked in their lives but have contracted the disease from other risk factors including second-hand smoke, air pollution and radon gas (the second leading cause of cancer).
According to Phillips, “Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer.” She added that her type of lung cancer has been linked to radon exposure which can happen anywhere even homes’ basements. “If there any thing this has taught us, it has taught a lesson that we live every day to the fullest. We make it a priority to spend time together as a family,” she concluded.
Conclusion
Medical doctors have yet to determine the reasons why a growing number of young women are being exposed to lung cancer. But this new robotic technology that can discover lung cancer early and also treat it would eventually even the odds and help fight the good fight against lung cancer. We think this is a big game-changer and are hopeful of the discovery. Let us know what you think about this robotic technology that can discover lung cancer early in the comment section below.
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