BOSTON -- Too often lung cancer isn't caught until it's too late to successfully treat. But there is a new method to detect if smokers might get lung cancer. News Center 5's Liz Brunner reported Tuesday on the first of its kind test.

"I'm a smoker," said Thomas Lundrigan, of Abington.

VIDEO: New Method Helps Detect Lung Cancer

After smoking for 35 years, Lundrigan is getting a new test to determine if he may have lung cancer.

"We believe our test is predictive of future risk of the disease," said Dr. Avrum Spira, an assistant professor of medicine for Boston University School of Medicine.

Spira has been a part of ongoing lung cancer research. He helped develop a new way to test for lung cancer on smokers who had abnormalities show up on their X-ray or CT-scan.

"We put a fiber optic scope through the nose or mouth," he said.

The scope brushes cells that line the bronchial area. The cell samples are tested for genes that could put patients at higher risk of developing lung cancer.

"In smokers who develop lung cancer, there's a different genetic pattern that occurs," said Spira.

During a clinical trial of the study, researchers found the results can determine the extent of lung cancer more efficiently to help save lives.

"It will basically enable us to get people treated more quickly, and also will enable us to avoid unnecessary procedures in people who don't have lung cancer," Spira said.