Early detection is our best chance at beating cancer.
The
@ezrainc Full Body MRI can help you screen for cancer in 13 organs.
The most frequent question I get when talking about what we do at Ezra, is how we handle false positives. Here’s what we do:
Incidental findings can lead to unnecessary follow-up procedures and cause anxiety and potentially harm (if invasive). At Ezra, we aim to reduce unnecessary follow-up procedures as much as possible.
I’ll get into that shortly, but first - some background:
I started Ezra because I am personally at high risk for cancer.
I lost my mother to metastatic cancer. Had my mother’s cancer been detected early, she would likely have survived.
How do I know this? The data speaks for itself 👇
Early detection of cancer improves survival rates dramatically.
For example, kidney cancer has a 5-year survival rate of 93% if detected early. This plummets to 14% if caught late. The difference is stark.
The notion that full body MRI screenings lead to unnecessary procedures isn’t entirely untrue. However, the crux lies in how we manage those incidental findings.
And that’s where Ezra shines.
We have a 3-step approach:
1. Detect
2. Interpret
3. Guide
Our approach helps us to avoid sending patients down unnecessary rabbit holes, and our AI — Ezra Reporter — helps minimize anxiety by converting radiology reports into consumer-friendly, lay term reports.
Ezra Reporter sifts through thousands of radiology findings, curates them, and provides actionable next steps. Plus, every Ezra member gets to speak with our on-staff medical providers.
Furthermore, each report has 3 components:
1/ E-SCORE
Every finding get’s ranked by our AI (and signed off by medical providers). It’s a scale of 1-5.
1 being informative, 5 being critical and emergent.
Depending on your E-SCORE, we determine what should be done.
2/ Longitudinal monitoring
Scanning at regular intervals minimizes unnecessary follow-up.
By comparing data from annual scans, we can confidently rule out many conditions that would otherwise require invasive procedures.
3/ Non-invasive follow-up
E-SCORES of 4 and 5 generally require follow-up.
We always recommend a follow-up diagnostic scan before any invasive procedure. This helps prevent unnecessary biopsies or other invasive procedures
I had to go through one of these myself.
A few years ago, I discovered an indeterminate liver lesion. My annual Ezra full body MRI scan enabled me to monitor it over time, and it has remained stable over multiple years. No surgeries.
When it comes to full body cancer screening, the focus should be on high quality imaging, accurate interpretation, informed action, and diligent follow-up. Nobody comes close to
@ezrainc on these fronts.
Thanks for reading.
Personally, I believe we have a cure for cancer: it’s early detection.
I’ve written about the topic at more length on my blog:
emigal.com/2023/04/04/on-inc…