AUSTINTOWN, Ohio - Fire departments across the country, including right here in the Mahoning Valley, are taking steps to test firefighters for cancer in a broader way, given it's the number one cause of death in this line of work.

Austintown Fire Department is voting to approve the purchase of unique cancer-screening tests for the first time, following the recommendations of University Hospitals to utilize the new technology that exists to test firefighters for 50 types of cancer.

This includes those 40 and over or with a family history of cancer.

Austintown Fire Chief Andy Frost said the cancer-screening technology is a game changer and is looking forward to taking advantage to help first responders take priority in their health. 

"This is a great opportunity presented to us and if we could take advantage of it, I think it's a really good thing," Frost said, "There's a lot of screening out there for colorectal, breast cancer, prostate... there's about five of those. That's good screening. We're not trying to replace that, but this goes over and above those screenings of the five common [ones]."

Virginia Beach Fire Department has utilized these same tests Austintown plans to use, called "Galleri" by the brand Grail. 

It's no surprise that those who risk their lives to respond to fires have a much higher risk of developing cancer, and President of Virginia Beach Professional Firefighters, Max Gonano, said more needs to be done to prioritize cancer screening for first responders. 

"Every house fire we go to has approximately 140 different carcinogens in it," Gonano said. 

The Galleri tests use a blood sample and are among the only tests on the market to screen for this many forms of cancer at once, according to the company.

Scientist Dr. Eric Klein of Grail said Americans don't screen for 70-percent of the cancers people die from, and with firefighters at higher risk, they could especially benefit.

"What we've seen in our clinical studies is that, when we use these tests in populations at risk for cancer, we catch a lot of cancers that people might otherwise not know about at earlier stages when they are more curable," Klein said, "The hope is in the long term that we will indeed show that we are saving lives."

After the Virginia Beach Fire Department used the tests for its crew, the department found two of their own were surprised to find they were cancer-positive.

One Virginia Beach firefighter tested positive for Esophageal cancer and is still in treatment, and the other had tested positive for Hodgkin Lymphoma.

"They're very thankful that they had the opportunity to have the test because their cancer was caught while they were asymptomatic," Gonano said, "They didn't know they had cancer, so their cancers were caught early, where treatment can make a difference."

Austintown said the tests will cost around $27,000 and will come out of the fire department's general fund, with the help of University Hospitals to assist with the testing and follow-up afterward.

Frost points out that other Valley departments, including Canfield Fire, are jumping on board too, utilizing forms of new cancer screening tools.