Although lung cancer is the second most-common cancer for men and women, it is the leading cause of death for both genders. As no cost-effective lung cancer screening methods are currently used, less than 10 percent of those diagnosed survive.

But a small Gig Harbor-based company has been quietly working for the last few years to change that. VisionGate, founded by Dr. Alan Nelson in 2001, has developed a three-dimensional optical tomography cell-analysis platform that could be a breakthrough in early detection of lung cancer.

“We have built an entire new type of imaging technology,” said Nelson, credited with the invention of the optical tomography cell analysis. “You look at breast, cervical or prostate cancer — there are tests that show early signs, and they can be treated because once you have early diagnosis capabilities, you can treat them. Lung cancer is in the Dark Ages: 90 percent of the patients die, and it doesn’t have to happen.”

With the help of its patented inventions, and collaboration with University of Washington, VisionGate has developed a screening test called LuCED, Lung Cancer Early Detection, and is moving from research to product development and manufacturing mode. If everything falls in place along what Nelson calls “an expedited path” with regulatory agencies such as the FDA, the test should be available in the United States by 2007.

LuCED involves collecting cells from sputum (deep coughing) and analyzing each cell in three dimensions, from different perspectives. Similar to the whole-body CAT scan, only this process looks at individual cells by using light instead of X-rays. A glass capillary tube suspends the moving cells, while a purple light beam passes through them from different directions. The 3D image is then reconstructed on a computer, providing a clear picture of the often-subtle differences between normal and cancer cells. The machine has also borrowed some concepts from telecommunications, utilizing fiber optics — and managed to avoid the pitfalls of conventional microscopes by providing projection images with an infinite depth of field.

“This optical system has never existed before, it breaks ground in optics,” Nelson said.

Although VisionGate only employs four people, the company has been collaborating with University of Washington, using UW’s research lab and staff. The company has received grants from the Washington Technology Center and National Cancer Institute, which has allowed for using collaborators while retaining full control of the intellectual property. The team includes one of the country’s top cytologists, Florence Patten; Richard Rahn, a physicist with a PhD who specializes in optics; and at UW Mark Fauver and Eric Seibel, the associate director of the Washington Technology Center. Even VisionGate’s treasurer, Sharon Everson, has a PhD — in mathematics.

Nelson, a biophysicist, is no stranger to cancer detection and treatment research, and as a former UW professor himself had already built the connections needed for a successful project. As founder and, later, president and CEO of his previous company, NeoPath, he oversaw the only FDA-approved fully automated system for screening of Pap smears used in the early detection of cervical cancers.

The Pap smear has reduced the deaths from cervical cancer by 70 percent since its introduction, and Nelson says LuCED could bring similar results for lung cancer. But despite the potentially immense implications, the company has kept a low profile. “There is no compelling reason to be aggressive about who we are, because we’re not trying to gain fame and popularity,” he said. “The company is very attractive and has no problem getting financing.”

He says a lot of young companies don’t know what they need to be successful or how to protect their inventions. But VisionGate has taken unique approaches from its inception. The business approach was to “stay in stealth mode” and make sure all the intellectual property is protected through patents and trademarks. The strategy is also to preserve ownership and control, which is why the employees control 95 percent of the stock, and the only shares that would become available will be common stock.

“We didn’t want to invest a lot of cash early on into brick and mortar, which is why we chose to build a unique relationship with the University of Washington,” Nelson said. And to keep up the pace, discussions have started with partners for clinical trials while the research was still in full swing. Now that the first machine is built and operational, the company plans to approach pharmaceutical companies for global sales and marketing partnerships and possibly to manufacture the system, and within a year will begin spreading more information to the health care community and patients.

“We have proven that with a small group of people we can develop what could be a fundamental breakthrough, and not lose control of our company,” he said.

Eventually, the technology could be used for other cancers that currently use invasive procedures for diagnosis, Nelson said. But for now, just trying to bring lung cancer out of its Dark Ages is a big enough task.