BCAM International Announces Cooperative Educational Agreement Between New
Jersey Multi-Specialty Clinic and Lungcheck(R) Cancer Screening Program
MELVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- BCAM International, Inc.
(OTC Bulletin Board: BCAM) announced the following:
On January 5, 2000, LungCheck Health, Inc. ("LungCheck"), a wholly owned
subsidiary of BCAM International, Inc. announced a cooperative educational
agreement with Pavonia Medical Associates of New Jersey whereby the company
will provide consumer and physician educational funds to highlight awareness
of pulmonary disease and the importance of early detection and prevention of
lung disease. Pavonia Medical Associates is one of the leading
multi-specialty clinics in the New York/New Jersey area with over
70 physicians in 3 locations (Jersey City, Secaucus and North Bergen).
Pavonia Medical also has one of the most respected pulmonary medicine
practices in New Jersey and draws patients from as far as Connecticut due to
their state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities and advanced smoking cessation
clinic.
"LungCheck has been a part of our disease management and smoking cessation
strategies for the past several years," said Dr. Victor Marchione, F.C.C.P.,
Medical Director of Pavonia Medical Associates. "With LungCheck's sputum
evaluation, we can assess the level of pulmonary damage in any given patient
quickly and non-invasively. LungCheck data provides an objective foundation
which guides the clinician before ordering more costly diagnostic studies.
LungCheck can detect the earliest cellular changes in the lung and, thereby,
lead to much earlier treatment of disease. The ease and convenience in using
the take-home, postage paid, single-canister sputum collection system make
patient acceptance and compliance surprisingly high. Pavonia clinicians
routinely use the LungCheck Cytogram(TM) Report to encourage smoking cessation
efforts and periodically assess these high-risk patients for lung carcinoma.
Indeed, LungCheck has made a significant difference in the quality of patient
care in our clinics by providing a reliable, cost-effective screening tool as
part of the initial patient assessment for lung disease."
Said Mr. Michael Strauss, CEO and Chairman of LungCheck Health, "This
agreement heralds a new level of cooperation between companies specializing in
medical innovation, such as ours, and mainstream clinical practice. For the
first time, we are not touting our own ability to save medical costs and save
patient lives, a well-respected practice has stepped up to the plate and will
demonstrate the positive impact we have made and will carry that message in
formal physician training and awareness campaigns to other practices." As
part of the agreement, Pavonia has committed to featuring LungCheck in
advertisements for their smoking cessation clinics and will speak on behalf of
the product and demonstrate cost savings models and patient management
protocols that they have developed to other physicians at regularly scheduled
presentations.
Strauss continued, "Pavonia approached us and explained that in the last
two years our program had detected cancerous or pre-cancerous lesions in
several patients that would have otherwise gone undetected -- we helped to
save lives. We're graphically demonstrating the need to quit smoking, we are
monitoring people at high risk of pulmonary disease in hazardous occupations
and we are making a difference. We always knew that the refinements made to
our test over the last 10 years to distinguish it from routine sputum cytology
would make LungCheck one of the most inexpensive and accurate tests available
-- we've just been fighting to prove the cost benefit to insurance companies
and break in to traditional diagnostic protocols. Pavonia Medical Associates,
independently, is making the case for us with their name and the caliber of
physicians associated with their practice. Our Company will remain an active
supporter of lung disease awareness through our programs with these types of
physicians."
LungCheck is a pathology services company specializing in early lung
disease screening and the assessment of lung health through the utilization of
its proprietary quantitative sputum cytology test called LungCheck(R). The
Company currently distributes its test to large medical clinics where it has
been successfully used as a biofeedback mechanism to aid in smoking cessation
tool and as monitoring tool for patients who have a family history of
pulmonary disease or are recovering from cancer. LungCheck is also used to
monitor employees who work in environments where they may be exposed to
pulmonary irritants. The Company also distributes its LungCheck(R) Sputum
Cytology Test through partnerships with leading providers of testing services
to Fortune 500 Companies as part of corporate wellness and/or screening
programs in addition to its recently announced plans to promote awareness of
the test via the Internet through partnerships with large, regional medical
clinics and research centers nationwide.
The LungCheck(R) Sputum Cytology Test is the only cost-effective,
non-invasive screening device for lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases
that provides both early detection and patient monitoring capabilities.
Conventional Chest X-Ray and bronchoscopy are routinely used to diagnose and
localize lung cancer, but several studies suggest that these techniques are
significantly less sensitive than sputum cytology in detecting lung cancer in
its earliest stages.
Like cervical cancer, if detected early (prior to detecting cancer cells
in sputum; i.e. severe dysplasia), lung cancer can be treated successfully in
more than 50% of the cases according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
In 1998, lung cancer (not including other forms of lung disease) was
responsible for approximately 160,000 deaths, with 170,000 new cases diagnosed
in the United States. Based on the long-term success of the Pap Smear for
early detection of cervical cancer, Management believes that LungCheck?, a
tool that can be viewed as a 'Pap Smear for the lungs, is an equally valuable
tool to be used for the early detection and monitoring of pulmonary disease.
The Company conservatively estimates that the United States market for the
LungCheck(R) Test is in excess of $1 billion.
The Company's common stock appears on the OTC Bulletin Board.
The forward-looking statements included in this news release are based on
management's current expectations. In light of the assumption and
uncertainties inherent in forward looking information, the inclusion of such
information should not be regarded as a representation by the Company or any
other person that the plans of the Company will be realized or that positive
trends in financial results will occur.
SOURCE BCAM International, Inc.
-0- 01/05/2000
/CONTACT: Michael Strauss of BCAM International, Inc., 516-752-3550/
(BCAM)
CO: BCAM International, Inc.; LungCheck Health, Inc.
ST: New York
IN: HEA MTC EDU
SU: PDT
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