Nov 27, 2023
Dr. Lishan Aklog, CEO of Lucid Diagnostics, discusses the current diagnostic landscape for esophageal cancer and the need for early detection. The current diagnostic tool, an upper endoscopy, is an invasive procedure requiring anesthesia. The EsoGuard, a noninvasive simple cell collection procedure, uses molecular diagnostics to detect pre-cancerous cells within minutes. This test is particularly beneficial for screening those with risk factors such as chronic heartburn, being male, a smoker, or obese.
Lishan explains, "To prevent it, you have to pick it up at the pre-cancer stage because, unlike many other cancers where detecting earlier stage cancer, stage one cancer is a victory with a real potential for a cure, such as in breast cancer and colon and others, that's not the case here. You have about a 50% likelihood of dying even if you pick up esophageal cancer at the earliest stages. So, our mission and the opportunity here is to prevent about 16,000 cancer deaths a year by detecting the pre-cancerous conditions before it actually becomes cancer."
"Using modern molecular techniques, we can identify the pre-cancerous cells at their earliest stage, which is groundbreaking. There is no other cancer that can be detected in the early pre-cancer stage at the 80% levels that we're able to do with this new test called EsoGuard. It's been on the market for a few years. So, that completely changes the landscape. Now, we have the opportunity to offer a very simple, noninvasive test that can detect the pre-cancerous condition in 80% of people. It also detects the cancer in 100% of people who happen to be unfortunate enough to have that. It is great opportunity, great shift in the landscape thanks to great science."
#LucidDiagnostics #EsoGuard #UpperEndoscopy #EsophagealCancer #PreCancer
