Pope Leo's recent lung cancer diagnosis is highlighting a screening gap that's bad news for Hawaii, which has some of the lowest early-detection rates in the country.

A Honolulu pulmonologist says the Pope's cancer was caught early enough to treat with a simple surgery, but most lung cancer isn't found until later stages when treatment gets much harder and requires chemo, radiation, or both.

People with a smoking history, as well as nonsmokers exposed to asbestos or heavy pollution, are considered high risk and should ask their primary doctor about getting screened rather than waiting for symptoms, since symptoms often don't show up until the cancer has already spread.

A new robotic biopsy tool now available in Honolulu lets doctors map a patient's lungs from a CT scan and reach small, hard-to-access spots more safely and accurately, done in about an hour with patients going home the same day. That means some Hawaii patients who previously had to fly to the mainland for this kind of diagnosis can now get it done locally.

Outlook: Doctors are urging Hawaii residents to proactively ask about screening criteria, since low screening rates mean many cases are still being caught too late.