Thermography: the true breast cancer screening tool

http://www.cometawellnesscenter.com/thermo.htm


As a doctor who has always believed that each patient deserves what makes the most sense for them personally, the individual risk for breast cancer and the risk imposed by mammography are always discussed in tandem with each patient. This country is slowly coming around to the fact that there is not a one-size-fits all approach or treatment program for patients in the practice of medicine. Our medical paradigm normally shifts very slowly and this makes change quite difficult in the medical field. Hence, the new guidelines recommended for breast cancer screening by the USPSTF studies in November 2009 has literally catapulted the medical community and patients alike into uncertainty regarding the last two decades. What are we to believe? Is it possible that we must consider that there has been an “oversell” so to speak, going on for the last twenty years with the routine use of mammography for screening breast cancer?

To quote the surgeon and scientist who writes Respectful Insolence under the nom de blog, “Orac.”…”In the end, mammography remains a pretty crude tool. The reason it persists is because it is inexpensive, at least compared to newer modalities.” But even the more sensitive (and much more expensive) MRI study is unable to clearly distinguish the difference between malignant/aggressive tumors and those tumors that will never harm the patient. The question which begs to be asked here is: have we become so entrenched in the diagnosis of cancer that we may well be impeding the development and acceptance of better tests that can more accurately distinguish between aggressive tumors and tumors that are unlikely ever to lead to cancer?

Is it not time to better support the research and the pursuit for a more diagnostic technology which can ultimately decrease the unwanted phenomenon of overtreatment and better determine tumor cancer risk? Such a screening test exists in this country and all over the world, it is called Thermography. As we are all aware, the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women in North America is breast cancer, affecting one in every eight women. Despite treatment advances that have reduced mortality, this disease remains the second leading cause of cancer-induced death, being second to lung cancer. Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI), also known simply as Thermography, offers a very promising modality in differentiating between malignant and benign breast lesions. Rather than detecting anatomical changes in breast morphology, this non-invasive technology detects changes on a physiologic level. In light of technological advances and maturation of the thermographic industry over the last two decades, we as a medical community need to recognize and utilize the potential of thermography to provide an effective, non-invasive, and low risk adjunctive tool for earlier detection of breast cancer.

Let’s face it: mammography has its limitations. As we all know, an evolving breast cancer, like its surrounding breast tissue, appears white on the x-ray. This may make lesions difficult to detect in young women as well as in women with very dense breasts; in these cases a tumor may not cast a significant shadow until it is quite large. For primarily these reasons, heavy dependence is placed on the mammogram’s calcification patterns as a clinical marker for potential cancer cell development within the breast parenchyma. Unfortunately, some cancers are so aggressive that they can spread quickly before they can be detected with a routine mammogram. Despite these limitations, mammography is still viewed as the gold standard for breast cancer screening and detection.

As cancer develops in the breast, cellular abnormalities occur. Such abnormal cellular changes are what thermography detects. A portion of the heat that is released from the body is in the form of infrared radiation. Physiologic changes which relate to cancer evolution such as increased blood flow and increased cellular activity contribute to the infrared image. Similar to the 'Pap' smear, which is universally used to identify the abnormal cells that can lead to cervical cancer, the highly sophisticated camera and computerized system used in thermography is able to assist in differentiating benign tissue from malignant tissue due to the difference in their respective infrared signal.

Improved methods to detect and diagnose breast cancer early, when it is most curable, are required if a significant impact on morbidity and mortality from breast cancer is to be made in this country. As a viable early breast cancer screening tool, thermography challenges the present protocols within the standard medical paradigm. Thermography however supports and complements mammography; it does not replace it. Although no single tool currently provides absolute predictability, a combination of a mammogram and DITI will help to improve both the sensitivity and specificity of cancer detection. Ideally, this enhanced identification can result in improved outcomes for those who have breast cancer, especially in its early stages, and the avoidance of unnecessary procedures for those who do not.

The Cometa Wellness Center brought thermography to the Greater Baltimore area in 2005. Our cameras are state of the art and our technicians are well educated and certified in this field. In addition to offering DITI for breast cancer screening, full body thermal imaging is also available at our Thermography Center located within The Cometa Wellness Center in Lutherville, Maryland. A compilation of citations pertinent to thermography is available upon request. As the founder of the Cometa Wellness Center, I welcome all professional inquiries, encourage you to visit our website and look forward to our potential collaboration in the future.

Ariane Cometa MD, the holistic doc