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New test searches for tiniest remnants of Neal Augenstein’s lung cancer in his blood

Almost four years after revealing his Stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis, ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½ reporter Neal Augenstein recently took a new and highly sensitive blood test that can provide valuable information to patients and their doctors.

Neal Augenstein has been a general assignment reporter with ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½ since 1997.(²ÝÝ®´«Ã½/Neal Augenstein)

Neal was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2022. Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., accounting for 1 in 5 of all cancer deaths, according to .

According to the American Lung Association’s annual , the national five-year survival rate for lung cancer has increased 26% over the past five years, reaching 29.7%.

Ongoing clinical trials are evaluating the role of minimal residual disease (MRD) testing, to track whether any remnants of a patient’s tumor remain in their blood after surgery and other treatments.

Neal shared his results with ²ÝÝ®´«Ã½ morning anchors John Aaron and Kristin Diaz Wednesday.

²ÝÝ®´«Ã½'s Neal Augenstein shares a health update with the morning anchors.

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