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Health Matters: Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center | 7 A Better Lung Biopsy New robotic technology allows doctors to detect cancer earlier than ever. W e know early detection is crucial for successful cancer treatment. The earlier a suspicious growth in your lung is detected, the earlier it can be biopsied, improving the chances for successful treatment if it does turn out to be cancer. At Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, we are committed to offering the best new technology to detect this very serious cancer. The hospital is one of the few in the area to use a revolutionary detection technology, the Ion robot, which can execute precise, minimally invasive biopsies in some of the most hard-to-reach areas of the lung. "It's a very new and rewarding technology," says pulmonologist Steven Taback, MD. Many lung nodules are found on X-rays or CT scans to detect lung cancer or other conditions. Traditional biopsies use needles to extract a tissue sample. With the ION robot, we are able to do what's called a navigation bronchoscopy to reach very small, previously inaccessible nodules. "You navigate your way through the bronchial tree, which is like a maze of branches," says Dr. Taback, "until you find the area you need to biopsy." With the patient's CT scan fed into the computer program, the Ion technology is able to guide the pulmonologist straight to the suspect nodule. "You can actually line up the computer images with the patient's own bronchial tree as you guide the scope," says the doctor. Whereas a traditional bronchoscope can make it to nodules around two centimeters in diameter, the Ion robot can easily reach—and biopsy—nodules one centimeter in size, and in some cases a half centimeter. That's a big deal. Previously, many small lung nodules would be subject to "watchful waiting" to see if they grew. The time between finding one and determining whether it was cancer could be two months or longer, an anxiety-filled period for most patients. With the Ion robot, the results are immediate. "Rather than wait for it to become a two-centimeter lesion," says Dr. Taback, "you can identify that something is cancer probably a year or two earlier. What does that do to your prognosis and your ability to save someone's life? It's dramatically increased." A SAFE, FAST PROCEDURE The Ion technology doesn't just offer faster results; it also provides patients with a safer option. Not using a needle means a drastically reduced chance of perforating or tearing the lung. You can also biopsy multiple lesions at once noninvasively, which reduces the number of unnecessary surgeries. "Because you are doing this more accurate navigation bronchoscopy on smaller lesions," says Dr. Taback, "you won't remove something benign because you were so fearful it was cancer." This is good news. Lung cancer causes more deaths than any other cancer—in both men and women. According to American Cancer Society estimates, about 238,340 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2023, and there will be about 127,070 deaths. "The Ion robot is monumentally game-changing," says Dr. Taback. "It's game-changing in terms of early diagnosis, and it's game-changing in terms of diminished complications." "We haven't seen the data yet to say that this is saving hundreds of thousands of lives," he says. "But I believe that it will." EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES Did you know that annual screenings can reduce lung cancer deaths by 20% or more? If you're age 55 to 80, have a 20-pack-a-year or more smoking history, are currently smoking or have quit within the past 15 years, you may be eligible for a lung cancer screening covered by insurance. These screenings use low-dose radiation CT scans to detect tumors in their earliest, smallest stages, when they are most treatable. Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is honored to be a leader in this field and to be named a Designated Lung Cancer Screening Center by the American College of Radiology and a Screening Center of Excellence by the Lung Cancer Alliance. For more information or to schedule a screening, call 844-586-4543.

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