Lack of Efficacy of Thermography as a Screening Tool for Minimal and Stage I Breast Cancer

Moskowitz, Myron; Milbrath, John R.; Gartside, Peter; Zermeno, Alfonso; Mandel, David R.

doi:10.1056/nejm197607292950504

Cited by 93 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…In 1976, Moskowitz et al [6] detected a low rate of true positives for early-stage breast cancer in thermograms interpreted by expert specialists, and concluded that this modality is probably not suitable for cancer screening. In more recent years, animal models have shown an early detection of breast malignancy by thermography before any mammographic change [10,11,12].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This entity was considered rather extensively in the 1970s and 1980s [4], and was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an adjunctive tool for the diagnosis of breast cancer, but not as a useful screening or diagnostic tool for breast malignancy, due to its low sensitivity and specificity [5,6]. However, since advanced digital equipment and recent advancements in technology and image processing methods have led to superior detection of heat waves, the current study focuses again on the subject, in order to investigate the potentially improved detection of breast pathology by digital thermographs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of the Accuracy of Thermography and Mammography in the Detection of Breast Cancer

et al. 2016

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Background: Benefits and harms of screening mammography have been disputed in recent years. This fact, along with the limitations of mammography as well as its unavailability in all our medical centers, tempted us to evaluate the accuracy of thermography in detecting breast abnormalities. Patients and Methods: All patients who were candidates for breast biopsy were examined by both mammography and thermography before tissue sampling in a referral center between January 2013 and January 2014. We defined sensitivities and specificities, and positive predictive values (PPVs) and negative predictive values (NPVs), of the 2 modalities in comparison with histologic results as the gold standard. Results: 132 patients were included. The median age of all patients was 49.5 ± 10.3 years (range 24-75 years). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy for mammography were 80.5%, 73.3%, 85.4%, 66.0%, and 76.9%, respectively, whereas for thermography the figures were 81.6%, 57.8%, 78.9%, 61.9%, and 69.7%, respectively. Conclusion: Our study confirms that, at the present time, thermography cannot substitute for mammography for the early diagnosis of breast cancer.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of the Accuracy of Thermography and Mammography in the Detection of Breast Cancer

et al. 2016

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“…It has probably been most investigated for breast cancer [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13], but growing literature reports its use in a variety of other medical conditions [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. To the best of our knowledge, however, there are only two reports of the use of DITI in skeletal trauma.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early assessment of the efficacy of digital infrared thermal imaging in pediatric extremity trauma

et al. 2012

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Young children or those with intellectual disability with trauma to an extremity often undergo radiographs of the whole limb. The objective of the study was to assess the efficacy of digital infrared thermal images (DITI) in pediatric extremity trauma. We hypothesized fractures to be associated with local hyperthermia, detectable with DITI, which could direct focused radiographs. In this exploratory study, patients seen over a 2-month period in a pediatric emergency department for limb trauma were included if an extremity radiograph was taken on the same day. Patients had DITI of symptomatic and contralateral limbs. The warmest area of each image was compared to the site of pain and/or fracture on the radiograph. Fifty-one patients were enrolled. DITI matched 73% of pain sites. Fractures were seen in 11 patients. DITI matched 7 of 11 (64%) fracture sites. DITI performance in pinpointing the site of injury, although suboptimal, is encouraging for further evaluation.

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“…It has been shown that the relationship between changes in blood flow using venous occlusion plethysmography and skin temperature is non linear [20], A similar relationship was shown using LDF and thermography to measure hand skin blood flow [16]. Therefore, the value of thermography remains equivocal in breast cancer diagnosis, and the results are variable and inaccurate [21], Since the sensitivity is less than 50%, it is no longer being advocated as a routine screening method [22].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser Doppler Perfusion Imaging – A New Technique for Measuring Breast Skin Blood Flow

Seifalian¹,

Chaloupka²,

Parbhoo³

1995

Int J Microcirc

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Future detection of breast cancer will probably be based on tissue function such as altered vascularity and blood flow. Assessment of tumour blood flow and its pattern may be significant for prognostic prediction, and early evaluation of treatment response. An ideal method of assessment of perfusion would therefore measure a wide area of the breast without the necessity for surface contact. A possible method for achieving this ideal is the recent development of a laser Doppler imager (LDI) that creates an image of tissue perfusion. The method is based on the recording of Doppler shift caused by movements of red blood cells in the backscattered light of a laser beam that successively scans a certain tissue area. This method reflects the vascularity of overlaying skin. We have applied this technique to 101 patients, 47 normal, 25 benign, and 29 carcinoma. Our findings were correlated with breast imaging and tissue diagnosis. The mean blood flow in ‘normal’ patients was 299 ± 155 and 311 ± 157 flux ( ± SD) for right and left breast, in patients with benign breast change it was 482 ± 209 flux and in patients with carcinoma it was 711 ± 280 flux. Patients with benign breast change have higher skin blood flow than symptomatic normal patients but the highest levels have been recorded in patients with breast cancer. We believe that LDI may have an important role in improving our understanding of the physiology of the normal breast and may provide a practical method of monitoring breast skin blood flow changes in clinical situations.

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Lack of Efficacy of Thermography as a Screening Tool for Minimal and Stage I Breast Cancer

Cited by 93 publications

References 2 publications

Comparison of the Accuracy of Thermography and Mammography in the Detection of Breast Cancer

Comparison of the Accuracy of Thermography and Mammography in the Detection of Breast Cancer

Early assessment of the efficacy of digital infrared thermal imaging in pediatric extremity trauma

Laser Doppler Perfusion Imaging – A New Technique for Measuring Breast Skin Blood Flow

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