(NewsNation) — More than 600,000 Americans they are expected to die of cancer in 2022, an outcome that is often the result of late diagnosis. That’s particularly true for lung cancer, which accounts for one in four cancer deaths.
“Although the statistics are declining, (lung cancer) remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide,” said Dr. Janani Reisenauer, a thoracic surgeon and interventional pulmonologist. “Most of the time, people don’t notice any symptoms until it’s much later in their stage and it’s harder to treat.”
Robotic bronchoscopy, a procedure in which the doctor uses a small robotic arm to enter the airways of the lungs and take a biopsy, aims to change that.
Reisenauer was one of the first in the country to test this technology during clinical trials at the Mayo Clinic, beginning in 2019. His research shows that this method is more precisethey can reach further into the lungs and has fewer complications.
“Knowing that the statistics are what they are, if we can figure out how to stop (lung) cancer in its tracks, it has profound implications for the general population,” he said.
NewsNation spoke with Reisenauer about the promise of robotic bronchoscopy in preventing deaths and changing the way cancer is treated.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
NewsNation: Why is this technology so revolutionary?
Reisenauer: Robotic bronchoscopy is essentially a tiny three-millimeter scope that can be placed anywhere in the lung.
We can reach almost 98-99% of all nodules, where the old bronchoscopes could only reach the nodules maybe 40% of the time. We can take samples and accurately provide a diagnostic result, whether it is cancer or not, about 85-92% of the time. That contrasts with previous data, which ranged from 20% to about 70%.
In addition, the complications of severe or significant bleeding are very low, less than 1%. And then the rate of pneumothorax (collapsed lung) is also extremely low, less than 1%.
NewsNation: What are some of the challenges of traditional bronchoscopy?
Reisenauer: Before this, bronchoscopic biopsies were done with larger bronchoscopes. Only lesions that were fairly central, or fairly close to an airway, or larger in size, were the ones we were trying to (biopsy).
At this time, this device is only designed to go down the trachea and airways and airway passages. But it definitely brings with it an interesting opportunity in terms of other technologies that can be made to go through other parts of the body.
NewsNation: But it’s not just about being small enough to travel through the airways of the lungs, it’s that you can see where you’re going, right?
Reisenauer: Imaging has also become very advanced. What we’re using now is a combination of a portable CT scanner along with these robotic bronchoscopes. These not only allow you to see where you are within the lung, but also to see where you are in relation to other critical structures.
That allows us to make sure that we are actually sampling in the nodule, and not next to or next to the nodule, which could lead to a false result.
I am also a thoracic surgeon. And many times under video guidance, these nodules are hard to see. These catheters allow us to tattoo the lesions so that we can see them at the time of resection.
NewsNation: How could similar technology not only prevent but treat cancer?
Reisenauer: There is infinite potential in terms of what this technology will allow us to do.
There are opportunities to look at injecting drugs, rather than having to give someone drugs through a vein, potentially injecting them focally and avoiding systemic toxicities and side effects. There may be opportunities to destroy tumor cells with extreme heat or extreme cold or other energetic methods. There has been a lot of news about immunotherapy, targeted therapies, and therapies based on genetic mutations and molecular markers.
Being able to treat someone in a targeted way, who may not be healthy enough to tolerate something going into their veins, or who is too sick for chemotherapy, has tremendous implications for that. And it’s just having another tool in your toolbox.