A chest X-ray showing a tumor in the lung (marked by arrow). Photo: James Heilman, MD via Wikimedia Commons.

The Israeli company Savicell has developed a successful blood test for lung cancer, allowing the disease to be detected and treated in its earliest stages, thus boosting the chances of recovery.

Dr. Shafrira Shai — the development and production manager of Savicell — was quoted by the Hebrew news outlet Mako as saying, “This process in fact identifies the energetic profile of the cells created as a result of their specific reactions. This gives us exact information on the condition of the person, if he’s in pre-cancerous condition, the beginning stages of cancer, or other possibilities.”

Eyal Davidovitch — the company’s vice president of operations — emphasized the importance of the new test.

“Statistics indicate that if you discover lung cancer in an early stage, the chances of recovery wander on average between 50-80 percent,” he said. “If you identify it at a late stage, we’re talking about four percent — it’s unbelievable. Lung cancer is the number one killer.”

Methods for detecting lung cancer tend to be cumbersome and time consuming, and are usually employed only after severe symptoms develop. With the new test, however, “you come to the doctor for a test and identify cancer,” said Davidovitch. “It’s simply a life-saver.”

The test also enables the screening of high-risk patients before symptoms appear.

The international journal Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy found that the test showed a 91 percent success rate in identifying cancer.

Savicell’s invention is not the only one of its kind in Israel. Scientists from the Israeli company Nucleix were the first to develop a blood test for lung cancer. Theirs was designed to detect the changes in specific molecules that indicate the presence of the disease.