UC Davis Health Diagnoses More Stage 1 Lung Cancers Than Ever Before Thanks to Breakthrough Technologies

SACRAMENTO — Groundbreaking technology is helping UC Davis Health treat more cases of lung cancer at their earliest stages. It is the first hospital system in Northern California to combine two advanced imaging technologies that make finding abnormalities in the lungs faster and safer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death nationwide and is expected to kill 125,000 Americans this year alone, which is why doctors are calling it a game-changer that UC Davis Health is home to these new technologies.

“This is the Cios Spin, right here. What it does is take 3D images of the patient’s lungs,” said Dr. Chinh Phan, as he showed CBS13 the machine.

It works in conjunction with the robotic-assisted bronchoscopy system called Ion.

“It has a 3.5-millimeter catheter. We use this machine, drive it with this controller into the patient’s airway to get to the nodule,” Phan demonstrated. “The Ion robotic system helps drive the robotic camera to that spot.”

Dr. Phan is director of the Interventional Pulmonology Program at UC Davis Health.

The combination of the power of these two devices means that lung nodules that may be cancer can be found much faster than ever before.

“It updates the location of the lump in real time, just like GPS does when you’re stuck in traffic. It updates where you need to go. That allows us to do the biopsy exactly where we need to do the biopsy,” Phan said.

Why is this so revolutionary?

Lung cancer is small in its earliest stages.

“You can imagine that it is very difficult to find a 10-millimeter nodule in the lung,” Phan said. “It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

That is why lung cancer is the deadliest form of cancer worldwide.

Thanks to this advanced screening, more lives are already being saved through early diagnosis.

“Since we have had this technology, we have diagnosed more stage 1 lung cancer than ever before,” Phan said.

Since UC Davis Health first acquired the Cios Spin 3D imaging machine in 2022, more than 400 biopsies have been performed, diagnosing 107 patients with stage 1 lung cancer.

That’s a 49% increase in stage 1 diagnoses, which were stages 3 and 4 before this innovation.

“Before this technology existed, I would look at a patient’s CT scan and say to myself, ‘I can’t diagnose this safely. It would just be a matter of flipping a coin to get an answer for the patient and I would send them to an alternative procedure.’ But now, when I see these modules that are so small, I don’t hesitate anymore. Because I know that the technology we have is the best technology yet to diagnose patients with stage 1 lung cancer,” Phan said.

It’s a stark contrast for Dr. Phan, who previously told the majority of his patients that they had lung cancer and that it was advanced. The survival outcomes in those cases are dismal.

“But now we’re having the other type of conversation, which is, ‘Yes, you have lung cancer. The glass is half full, it’s stage 1. So you can be cured,'” Phan said.

For the deadliest cancer diagnosis, new hope is on the horizon, promising progress, step by step with the Cios.

California has the lowest lung cancer screening rate in the country, which is alarming to doctors.

Dr. Phan hopes this story will raise awareness of the importance of people who are eligible for lung cancer screening getting screened annually.

If a routine screening reveals anything abnormal, a patient’s doctor can refer them to UC Davis, where they can participate in this advanced 3D screening, which can be covered by insurance companies.

UC Davis Health will soon have a second Cios Spin machine, something doctors hope will break down barriers to lung cancer care in our region.

For more information, visit the UC Davis Health website.