When it
comes to cancer, early detection saves lives... Digital infrared thermal imaging or
thermography is a safe and painless 15-minute test that could save your
life. It offers the chance to detect
breast cancer much sooner and more accurately than physical examination or
mammograms alone.
Breast Cancer Statistics
About 1 in 8
women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer. The risk doubles if you have a first-degree
relative with cancer, although only about 15% of women with breast cancer have
a family member diagnosed with it. About
5-10% of breast cancers are linked to inherited genetic mutations, which
increase the chance of developing breast cancer to as much as 80%.
Current
screening procedures include physical examination by a physician and
mammograms. Both of these techniques are
looking for structural, anatomical changes such as a palpable lump or an
abnormality found only with x-ray.
Ultra-sound or MRI scan are two other studies that are used to further
evaluate suspicious breast lumps.
One problem
with anatomical screening is that many breast cancers are simply missed. False-negative
results occur when mammograms appear normal even though breast cancer is
present. According to the National
Cancer Institute about 20% of breast cancer is missed on a mammogram.
Recent
criticism of mammograms have also focused on the false-positive results in
which the study findings suggest an abnormality when no cancer is actually
present. This often leads to further
imaging and invasive biopsies or surgeries.
The authors
of a 2009 Cochrane Database Review of breast cancer screening and mammography
sum up the false-positive issue stating that "screening led to 30 percent
over-diagnosis and overtreatment, or an absolute risk increase of 0.5 percent. This means that for every 2000 women screened
for 10 years, one will have her life prolonged, and 10 healthy women who would
not have been diagnosed if they had not been screened, will be treated
unnecessarily."
There are
also concerns of mammograms actually increasing the risk of cancer due to
radiation exposure, particularly in younger premenopausal women. Equally important is the fact that breast
cancer has been present for many years by the time it is found with exam or
mammogram.
Breast Thermography
Thermography
is the process of measuring heat with an infrared imaging device. Cancer tends to present with increases in
blood-flow, metabolism or inflammation, all of which cause heat that is easily
monitored with thermography.
The first
use of diagnostic thermography came in 1957 when R. Lawson discovered that the
skin temperature over a cancer in the breast was higher than that of normal tissue. Research on breast thermography started in
the 1950s and now over 800 peer-reviewed studies can be found in the medical
literature. FDA approval was granted in
1982.
Studies show
that a persistent abnormal breast thermogram is the single most important
marker of high risk for developing breast cancer and has the ability to detect
the first signs that a cancer may be forming up to 10 years before any other
procedure can detect it. Because of
earlier detection it increases the survival rate of breast cancer patients by
about 60%.
Breast
thermography is 10 times more significant as a future risk indicator for breast
cancer than a first order family history of the disease, has only a 10%
false-positive or false-negative rate, and when combined with physical exam and
mammogram 95% of early stage breast cancers are detected.
One has to
wonder then, why aren’t breast thermograms used more commonly? Despite dozens of very good, very favorable
studies, it only took one from the 1970s to turn the tide against breast
thermography. The Breast Cancer
Detection and Demonstration Project (BCDDP) is the primary reason for the
decreased use of infrared imaging.
The study results
were seriously flawed in numerous respects, but perhaps most of all was the
influence of other research findings at the time that over-exaggerated the role
of thermography. This led to the false perspective
that thermography might replace mammograms, even though this was never
suggested by the BCDDP authors.
The BCDDP
study suffered from using untrained technicians doing the scans, radiologists
with little to no training in reading thermograms, and no formal protocol for
reading the thermograms. Many scans were
done in poor conditions in which the heat in the exam rooms was not controlled,
leading to poor images.
With the development
of sophisticated imaging technology, computer software to analyze and track
images, control of exam room conditions, established training and protocols for
thermogram interpretations, this poorly performed 30-year-old study should not
be used to determine the value of thermography.
Get Your Thermogram
Despite the large
amount of positive data in support of breast thermography most physicians are
hesitant to recommend it as a routine screening test. Perhaps this is due to a lack of
understanding of how thermograms are best utilized, combined with an
unawareness of the research backing the use of breast thermography.
Thermograms
are not yet part of the hospital based imaging services and insurance does not
routinely cover thermography screening.
Currently, the only way to get a thermogram is through specialized
imaging centers or offices. We offer
breast or whole-body thermography at the IMC and no physician order is required
to get scanned.
Our
thermography technicians have advanced training and years of experience. The use of state-of-the-art camera systems with
advanced computer software for image manipulation and comparison provides
excellent image quality. Board certified
radiologists with specific training in reading thermograms review the images.
Breast
thermography is an inexpensive and easy way to increase your chance of finding
breast cancer early, or better yet finding changes so early you might intervene
and stop cancer before it really gets started.
If you are interested in more information or in getting an appointment
for a thermography scan, call the IMC at 245-6911.
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Bio
Scott Rollins, MD, is Board
Certified with the American Board of Family Practice and the American Board of
Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine. He specializes in Bioidentical
Hormone Replacement for men and women, thyroid and adrenal disorders,
fibromyalgia, weight loss and other complex medical conditions. He is founder and medical director of the
Integrative Medicine Center of Western Colorado (www.imcwc.com) and Bellezza Laser
Aesthetics (www.bellezzalaser.com). Call (970) 245-6911 for an appointment or
more information.
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