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ZENO Aims to Revolutionize Lung Cancer Detection
More Americans die from lung cancer than any other type of cancer. The CDC reports that in 2011, out of the 207,339 Americans diagnosed with lung cancer, 156,953 people died from the disease. Science is advancing screen cancer screening technology, though current methods unarguably have room for improvement.
Mortality rates were reduced by 20% in patients that underwent screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) compared to radiographic screening, according to the National Institutes of Health. Despite the effectiveness and benefits of CT screening, this method carries a higher risk of false-positive results and unnecessary invasive procedures compared to X-ray screening, though the latter method is no longer recommended for screening.
Healthcare technology innovator Zenosense is developing an alternative that the company believes has the potential to meet or exceed the accuracy of CT scanning without risk and at a lower cost. Zenosense’s development partner, Zenon Biosystem (“Zenon”), is currently manufacturing two pre-commercial prototypes of a screening device that analyzes a person’s breath to detect lung cancer.
Here’s why it could work. Numerous scientific studies suggest that lung cancer alters cellular metabolism, resulting in the production of a number of distinctive Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath. Zenosense’s device filters out VOCs NOT of interest to optimize the detection of target VOC biomarkers that are associated with the incidence of lung cancer.
When manufacturing is complete, Zenosense plans to conduct a lung cancer detection trial to be carried out in a clinical setting using two of the devices of the same design to ensure reproducibility of results. Clinical tests will examine 400 subjects split into four groups to include smokers, non-smokers, and those suffering from lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
A preliminary commercial target for Zenosense will be to establish whether its device can meet or exceed the accuracy of low-dose CT scanning to detect early stage lung cancer, which currently is the only realistic method for mass screening. The company anticipates completing its manufacturing later this month.
For more information, visit www.zenosense.net
