Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Mammograms vs Thermography

Considering that mammograms miss about 20% of cancers[1], about 22% are over-diagnosed (leading to unnecessary treatments)[2] and repeated radiation exposure has the potential to cause cancer[3], is there a better option?

Infrared medical thermography is a radiation-free, painless, non-invasive way to see what’s happening inside your body by detecting unusual heat patterns that suggest breast abnormalities, inflammation, nerve issues or other problems. Thermography can detect these concerns up to ten years earlier than mammography[4], allowing time to solve the problem before it progresses into a life-threatening issue.

Since thermography is the earliest known indicator for the future development of breast cancer, why is mammography still accepted as the most reliable breast cancer detection modality? This is a great question. Keep in mind there is a lot of contradicting information out there, such as this study on PubMed that states thermography cannot substitute for mammography for the early diagnosis of breast cancer.

Yet, another article on PubMed that looked at the benefits and harms of mammography concluded that “…for every 2000 women invited for screening throughout 10 years, one will have her life prolonged and 10 healthy women, who would not have been diagnosed if there had not been screening, will be treated unnecessarily. Furthermore, more than 200 women will experience important psychological distress for many months because of false positive findings. It is thus not clear whether screening does more good than harm.”

In a study by Spitalier and associates, they screened 61,000 women using thermography over a 10 year period and followed 1,416 patients with isolated abnormal breast thermograms. The false-negative and positive rate was found to be 11% (89% sensitivity and specificity). 91% of the nonpalpable cancers (T0 rating) were detected by thermography. Of all the patients with cancer, thermography alone was the first alarm in 60% of the cases. The authors also noted that “in patients having no clinical or radiographic suspicion of malignancy, a persistently abnormal breast thermogram represents the highest known risk factor for the future development of breast cancer.[5]”

In another study, Gros and associates followed 1,527 patients with initially healthy breasts and abnormal thermograms for 12 years. Of this group, 40% developed malignancies within 5 years. The study concluded that “an abnormal thermogram is the single most important marker of high risk for the future development of breast cancer[6].”

It’s important to understand that thermography does not diagnose cancer. It allows you to track your unique temperature data over time. These changes in temperature and symmetry can alert you that changes are taking place, for better or worse. Higher temperature readings indicate higher levels of inflammation, which can lead to cancer. Elevated temperatures can also be associated with an increase of blood flow and cellular activity which could mean the presence of a tumour. By having regular thermograms and analyzing your data, you can address issues like inflammation before it progresses.

Our Best Breast Health (BBH) Program teaches the techniques that reduce inflammation in the breasts as well as cleanses the breasts of toxins.

Please note, there are situations that warrant the use of other modalities such as mammography, ultrasound, MRI, PET scanning, etc. and these should continue to be used in clinical practice along with breast thermography.