NCH Health: New tech for lung biopsies and earlier cancer detection
In our commitment to advancing patient care, I am thrilled to introduce the latest breakthrough in lung biopsy technology, the Intuitive Ion Navigational Bronchoscopy.
This cutting-edge system allows our doctors at NCH to precisely target and sample lung nodules without invasive surgery or needle punctures. The benefit of this technology is finding cancers in the lungs where curative therapy can be started earlier.
In the U.S., the average five-year survival rate for all stages of non-small cell lung cancer (the most common kind) is 23%, compared with 90% for all stages of breast cancer and 98% for all stages of prostate cancer. One reason for the lower survival rate is that about 72% of patients diagnosed with lung cancer have nonlocalized disease, meaning the cancer is detected after it has spread beyond the initial tumor.
The Intuitive Ion system is a robotic, navigational bronchoscopy platform that has been utilized to successfully sample the lung tissues of approximately 80 NCH patients to date. After anesthesia, a scope is placed into the patient's windpipe, providing access to any portion of the lung without making incisions.
By leveraging CT scan data, we can meticulously map the lung's anatomy in real-time, significantly enhancing biopsy accuracy and reducing the risk of complications. Compared to traditional biopsy methods, the Intuitive Ion technology offers higher safety and efficacy.
With this new technology the risk of complications, such as a collapsed lung or bleeding, is minimal. Data shows the risk of a collapsed lung with the new technology is less than 1%.
Physicians recommend that people over the age of 50 with a significant smoking history be screened for nodules before they cause problems.
Early detection of lung cancer can significantly improve outcomes. More than 70% of all lung cancer nodules are located in the outer one-third of the lung, an area full of tight spaces and narrow airways that may be hard to reach. For those patients, Intuitive Ion’s innovative robotic-assisted platform aims to enable minimally invasive biopsies that could become a key part of early diagnosis.
Typically, there are no symptoms of lung cancer until the cancer has advanced to a stage where the prognosis worsens. Diagnosing lung cancer at an early stage saves and adds years to people’s lives. If you’ve been a smoker for years, talk with your doctor about the possibility of a lung screening – it could save your life.
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: NCH Health: New tech for lung biopsies and earlier cancer detection
