NYC Health + Hospitals kicked off Lung Cancer Awareness Month by revealing that it has completed over 10,000 lung cancer screenings since September 2022. This feat was accomplished at 10 different sites throughout the state.
The New York hospital network is the largest municipal healthcare system in the United States. It has 11 hospitals, 30 clinics, five long-term care centres and mobile health units.
For lung cancer screening, the healthcare provider focuses on citizens aged 50 to 80 who have been heavy tobacco smokers recently or in years past. It primarily utilizes low-dose CT scans for its screening — the world’s most common testing method.
This screening technique is not the only efficacious means of testing for the disease. Others in the U.S. have been using blood biopsies, mucus tests, AI programs that examine lung X-ray scans and breath tests to determine whether an individual has lung cancer.
Kentucky-based Breath Diagnostics Inc. just raised US$1 million to propel development of its OneBreath test — an innovative and accurate means of testing that doesn’t involve using radiation like a low-dose CT scan. This device, currently in the R&D phase, will become commercially available for healthcare providers in the coming years.
In Florida, a group of companies and organizations just teamed up to improve their state’s dwindling lung cancer screening rate by offering citizens the FirstLook Lung blood biopsy test developed by DELFI Diagnostics. This initiative was also significantly inspired by Lung Cancer Awareness Month this November.
Aside from New York and Florida, other American states like Mississippi and Texas have been stepping it up with their lung cancer screening too.
In recognition of #LungCancerAwarenessMonth, @nychealthsystem performed over 10,000 scans for lung cancer since the beginning of the Lung Cancer Screening program in September 2022: https://t.co/UpB4no0b2I. pic.twitter.com/6U3JZLAqvi
— NYC Health + Hospitals (@NYCHealthSystem) November 4, 2024
Read more: Breath Diagnostics onboards new president and closes critical financing
Read more: Breath Diagnostics pioneers novel lung cancer breath test
Long Islanders raise money to fight lung cancer
Over 500 New York residents in Long Island held a charity run event on Oct. 26. The second annual Lung Force walk pulled together a contribution of US$120,000 for lung cancer research.
Lung Force is an initiative created by the American Lung Association (ALA). This organization, founded over 120 years ago, is also partially responsible for the new Florida screening campaign mentioned previously.
“We surpassed our fundraising goal, and we are truly showing the world that together we can take strides against lung cancer and lung disease,” ALA’s New York Development Director, Emily Amitin, said last month.
An American citizen is diagnosed with lung cancer every two minutes, the health organization says. However, despite being the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., the ALA says survival rates have increased by over 50 per cent nationwide in the past decade.
rowan@mugglehead.com
