SAN ANTONIO — Lung cancer kills more than a million people each year, often because it's caught too late. But new technology can detect this deadly disease early with no medical complications. People can be screened now by simply coughing into a cup.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths worldwide, primarily because too often it goes undiagnosed until it reaches an advanced stage. That's why detection is the key to successful treatment and survival.
Maria Zannes, the president and CEO of bioAffinity Technologies told KENS 5, "If we had the advances that we have now in treating lung cancer and if he had found that cancer early, he wouldn't be alive today but he would have had an awful, awful longer life than than he had."
Zannes is talking about her World War II fighter pilot father. He lost his life far too soon but it wasn't in war.
"He died at the age of 39 from lung cancer. And that's really what we're trying to prevent here from people just dying too early," Zannes said.
That's where the non-invasive CyPath lung test comes in. After a nodule is shown on a CT scan Zannes explained, "People collect their sputum, that phlegm that comes from the lungs at home over three days. Then they overnight it to the laboratory."
The results and guide to the next steps will be known by the doctor within days. The test isn't just a non-invasive way to get screened for lung cancer but a study in the Journal of Health Economics and Outcomes Research revealed the test could save nearly $3,000 per patient with follow up diagnostic assessments, additional procedures and medical complications.
"And the test then would give a better indication of just what the next steps would be," Zannes said.
