What is Breast Thermography?

Breast thermography is a 20 minute non-invasive test of physiology (we allow more time because people have questions and stories..). It is a valuable procedure for alerting you and your doctor to changes that can indicate early stage breast disease, but more importantly, it is the most effective predictor of risk a woman has for breasts and this is why it has been repressed. The healthScare system does not want you having a way to know with 95% certainty that your breasts are not harboring disease. And it doesn’t want you to know with accuracy how likely you are to face a problem down the road should no interventions be made.

The benefit of breast thermography is that it offers the opportunity of earlier detection of breast disease than has been possible through breast self examination, doctor examination or mammography alone. Possibly equally important is that it can play a role in improving the current system’s 80% false positive biopsy rate by providing the thermal information that has been withheld which could give a woman reason to wait & watch or a reason to proceed with a plan.

Thermography can detect the subtle physiologic changes that happen as pre-cursors to structural formations, ie tumors.  With early warnings of thermal abnormalities such as increased estrogen activity, asymmetries and hot spots, thermal imaging is the ultimate prevention tool. It is accused of having false positives, but is it really wrong? No, probably not, because a study of 5 years in duration and no interventions (didn’t change lifestyles of women nor treat) revealed that 40% of “abnormals” (TH4 & TH5) did develop pathology by the end of the study!  Thermography is so early to the party that the current measuring sticks (mammography, ultrasound, MRI) “think”k4 it is finding things that aren’t there but time proved the thermal imaging to be an extremely significant predictor of future pathology, unlike any current risk assessment practices being employed, including and perhaps especially competetive to the DNA testing dynasty, another reason for repressing it and/or smearing.

Quality thermography is a painless, non invasive, state of the art clinical test without any exposure to radiation and is used as part of an early detection program which gives women of all ages the opportunity to increase their chances of detecting breast disease at an early stage. It is particularly useful for women under 50 where mammography is less effective. 

Thermography's role in breast cancer and other breast disorders is to help in early detection and monitoring of abnormal physiology and the establishment of risk factors for the development or existence of cancer. When used with other procedures the best possible evaluation of breast health is made. 

This test is designed to improve chances for detecting fast-growing, active tumors in the intervals between mammographic screenings or when mammography is not indicated by screening guidelines for women under 50 years of age.

All patients thermograms (breast images) are kept on record and form a baseline for all future routine evaluations.

With the new ultra-sensitive, high resolution digital infrared cameras available today a technology that has been developing over the past 30 years is now becoming more accessible. 

Thermography as a physiologic test, demonstrates heat patterns that are strongly indicative of breast abnormality, the test can detect subtle changes in breast temperature that indicate a variety of breast diseases and abnormalities and once abnormal heat patterns are detected in the breast, follow-up procedures including structural imaging are necessary to rule out or properly diagnose a breast diseases such as cancer, fibrocystic syndrome, Pagets disease, etc.

By performing thermography years before conventional mammography, a selected patient population at risk can be monitored more carefully, and then by accurately utilizing mammography or ultrasound as soon as is possible to detect the actual lesion - (once it has grown large enough and dense enough to be seen by structural imaging), thermography can assist in monitoring the patient’s treatment choices and ultimately improve the outcome. 

It is in this role that thermography provides its most practical benefit to the general public and to the medical profession. It is certainly an adjunct to the appropriate usage of ultrasound/sonography/mammography and not a competitor. In fact, thermography has the ability to identify patients at the highest risk and actually increase the effective usage of mammographic imaging procedures. 

Until such time as a cure has been found for this terrible disease, progress must be made in the fields of early detection and risk evaluation coupled with sound clinical decision making.

Thermography, with its non-radiation, non-contact and low-cost basis, has been clearly demonstrated to be a valuable and safe early risk marker of breast pathology, and an excellent case management tool for the ongoing monitoring and treatment of breast disease when used under carefully controlled clinical protocols.

Who Should Have This Test?

All women can benefit from breast thermography screening. However, it is especially appropriate for younger women (20 - 50) whose denser breast tissue makes it more difficult for mammography to be effective. Also for women of all ages who, for many reasons, are unable to undergo routine mammography. This test can provide a "clinical marker" to the doctor or mammographer that a specific area of the breast needs particularly close examination.

It takes years for a tumor to grow thus the earliest possible indication of abnormality is needed to allow for the earliest possible treatment and intervention. Thermography's role in monitoring breast health is to help in early detection and monitoring of abnormal physiology as well as assisting in the diagnostic process of ruling things out or in given that it is going to see movement in a process typically faster than other imaging because we are measuring temperatures and they are measuring sizes so more time to change size than temps :)

Breast cancers tend to grow significantly faster in younger women under 50.

Age and Average Tumor Doubling Times  

Age 50 & Under             80 Days 

50 - 70                           157 Days

Over 70                         188 Days

Source: Cancer 71:3547-3551, 1993 

Generally, the faster a malignant tumor grows, the more infrared radiation it generates. For younger women in particular, results from thermography screening can lead to earlier detection when their screening options are so limited due to radiation from mammography being more damaging in younger women.

You can increase your chances of detecting breast cancer in its earliest stages by understanding the need for, and participating in an early detection program, but with your eyes wide open!

Only about 20 percent of biopsied breast lumps are cancerous. (Yes, you read that right, they are wrong 80% of the time when they decide it’s time to biopsy.) And, if cancer is found early, there are choices for treatment. With prompt treatment, the outlook is good. In fact, most women treated for early breast cancer will be free from breast cancer for the rest of their lives. 

Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Thermography can show significant indicators several months before any of the clinical signs of inflammatory breast disease, skin discoloration, swelling and pain). Inflammatory breast disease cannot be detected by mammography and is most commonly seen in younger women, the prognosis is always poor. Early detection provides the best hope of survival.

Ductal Carcinoma in Situ

According to H. Gilbert Welch, MD, MPH, this type of breast cancer is mislabeled and should not be called carcinoma because of its extremely low lethality if left alone, yet it accounts for approximately 1/3 of the breast cancer diagnosed in his meta-analysis published in the NEJM in 2012 about Mammography Screening in the Last Three Decades. According to him, 1.2 million women were treated for cancers DCIS that would not have shortened their lives and that they would never have known about had they not gone to screening. 72,000 women were saved in those 3 decades but at enormous expense to the 1.2 million. Some of our clients with DCIS lesions have chosen to “wait and watch” with thermography and other modalities for any signs of growth. Most have been waiting and watching for years now with no recurrence.

Male Breast Cancer

One per cent of breast cancers are found in men. The survival rate is much lower than in women as most breast cancers in men are only detected in advanced stages. Thermography gives men a private, non-invasive way to “have a look” to see if any suspicious heat patterns are present.

Even subtle effects of treatments, lifestyle & diet changes, etc., are likely to be seen with thermographic monitoring, making thermography an excellent objective way to see immediate effects of treatment and adjust if necessary.