Thermography: A better alternative to screen for breast cancer?

Mammograms have been around since the mid 70’s and are still the gold standard for breast cancer screening in women today. But there’s a new kid in town called Thermography and evidence is starting grow in favor of this heat sensing device as another option for breast cancer screening, one that’s both, non invasive and uses no radiation. Turns out Thermography has been around since the 50’s but largely kept under the radar until recently.

The The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) “recommends that women who are 50 to 74 years old and are at average risk for breast cancer get a mammogram every two years. Women who are 40 to 49 years old should talk to their doctor or other health care provider about when to start and how often to get a mammogram. Women should weigh the benefits and risks of screening tests when deciding whether to begin getting mammograms before age 50.”

Mammography isn’t perfect though, there are some inherent drawbacks, risks and limitations First, it’s design, a machine that smashes your breasts with up to 45 pounds of pressure and simultaneously emits a steady flow of ionizing radiation. Hmmm, a reasonable woman might ask, is this safe? Second, it can miss the fast growing cancers and instead find some cancers like ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) which in several studies is referred to as “stage 0” or a “risk factor” to cancer as apposed to “cancer” since it often resolves on it’s own. Third, early diagnosis of DCIS has led to potential over treatment with "20 percent of patients with DCIS receiving a mastectomy (removal of a whole breast), around half of which are double mastectomies (removal of both breasts). Among patients who have only the tissue around a tumor removed (called a lumpectomy), 50 to 70 percent also undergo radiation, and around 40 percent receive hormone therapy.” (Jones, 2022)

“DCIS is a marker for breast cancer risk; it itself is not cancer,” Marti said. “Removing the speedometer does not change the speed of the car, so removing DCIS, irradiating it, or giving it pills will not change the risk of dying.”  (Jones, 2022)

While thermography or Digital infrared thermal imaging (DITI) technology has been around since the 50’s it’s been arguably underutilized as a diagnostic tool over as many years. Now it’s making a resurgence as the more holistic breast cancer prevention screening tool. New evidence is encouraging but further studies are needed to support stand alone diagnostic capabilities. Thermography in a nut shell uses an infrared camera to detect heat. Yes, heat plays a vital role in detecting cancer cells. Let’s hear from an expert in the field on how this works.

Dr. Galina Migalko

Founder/CEO at Universal Medical Imaging Group, Inc

“It is widely acknowledged that cancers, even in their earliest stages, need nutrients to maintain or accelerate their growth. In order to facilitate this process, blood vessels are caused to remain open, inactive blood vessels are activated, and new ones are formed through a process known as neoangiogenesis. This vascular process causes an increase in surface temperature in the affected regions, which can be viewed with infrared imaging cameras. Additionally, the newly formed or activated blood vessels have a distinct appearance, which thermography can detect. Heat is an indication that inflammation exists, and typically inflammation is present in precancerous and cancerous cells, too. The most promising aspect of thermography is its ability to spot anomalies years before mammography. Since thermal imaging detects changes at the cellular level, studies suggest that this test can detect activity 8 to 10 years before any other test. This makes it unique in that it affords us the opportunity to view changes before the actual formation of the tumor. Studies have shown that by the time a tumor has grown to sufficient size to be detectable by physical examination or mammography, it has in fact been growing for about seven years achieving more than 25 doublings of the malignant cell colony. At 90 days there are two cells, at one year there are 16 cells, and at five years there are 1,048,576 cells--an amount that is still undetectable by a mammogram. With thermography as your regular screening tool, it's likely that you would have the opportunity to make adjustments to your diet, beliefs and lifestyle to transform your cells before they became cancerous.”

According to Migalko, when thermography is combined with ultrasound it becomes 95-99% accurate in identifying breast cancer cells up to 10 years before a mass develops. That’s impressive! Thermography assesses physiology while ultrasound assesses anatomy and together they appear the be the safest, most accurate screening tools available for breast cancer prevention to date. It’s important to note that currently the FDA does not recommend thermography as a stand alone diagnostic tool but rather an adjunct to mammography.

World wide, breast cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer found in women and it goes without saying that early detection is key to improved health outcomes. Whether you choose Mammogram, MRI, Thermography or some combination it’s important to know the risks, benefits and limitations of each. I encourage you to do some research and talk with your health care provider about all these options if you’re 40+ years of age.

Informed and empowered with all matters of health!

Amber Barone RN

References:

Bleyer A, Welch HG. Effect of three decades of screening mammography on breast-cancer incidence. N Engl J Med. 2012 Nov 22;367(21):1998-2005. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1206809. PMID: 23171096.

Brawley OW. Accepting the Existence of Breast Cancer Overdiagnosis. Ann Intern Med. 2017 Mar 7;166(5):364-365. doi: 10.7326/M16-2850. Epub 2017 Jan 10. PMID: 28114628.

Jones C. Ductal Carcinoma In Situ: The Weight of the World “Cancer” American Association for Cancer Research Oct 12, 2022

S P. Thermal Imaging Techniques for Breast Screening - A Survey. Curr Med Imaging. 2020;16(7):855-862. doi: 10.2174/1573405615666191115145038. PMID: 33059555.

Ekici S, Jawzal H. Breast cancer diagnosis using thermography and convolutional neural networks. Med Hypotheses. 2020 Apr;137:109542. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2019.109542. Epub 2019 Dec 27. PMID: 31901878.

Brodersen J, Jørgensen KJ, Gøtzsche PC. The benefits and harms of screening for cancer with a focus on breast screening. Pol Arch Med Wewn. 2010 Mar;120(3):89-94. PMID: 20332715.

Rakhunde MB, Gotarkar S, Choudhari SG. Thermography as a Breast Cancer Screening Technique: A Review Article. Cureus. 2022 Nov 8;14(11):e31251. doi: 10.7759/cureus.31251. PMID: 36505165; PMCID: PMC9731505.