Thermography, Mammography or Ultrasound? Part 4
Filed Under Breast Health |
What you should know about THERMOGRAPHY:
• Functional testing, able to detect physiological changes, cannot pinpoint the exact location of suspicious area
• No radiation, non-invasive, no risk, can be used as often as necessary to observe the effectiveness of treatment over time
• Uses infrared detectors to detect heat and increased vascularity that may be related to angiogenesis
• Can detect physiological changes many years prior to any other method of screening
• Very sensitive to fast-growing, aggressive tumors
• Hormonal activity in the breast will affect thermographic imaging but not to the point of abnormality
• All breast shapes, conditions and areas are within the scope of imaging
• Earliest warning system with breast tissue and physiological changes that usually precede tumor formation years prior to its occurrence
• Average specificity 90% (10% false positive)
• Average sensitivity 90% (10% of cancers missed); most of these are slow-growing tumors with low metabolic rate in the area with a high rate of survival
Of course everyone has heard by now that early detection prolongs life expectancy; this is a given. However, if cancer has been detected early, it would mean that you already have cancer. Prevention should take precedence over detection. Prevention means not getting cancer in the first place.
If we are going to reverse the present trend of the epidemic proportion of breast cancer, we need to come up with a more proactive approach, which needs to become the norm for patient assessment. Cancer starts with one abnormal cell, and it takes nearly eight years for that one abnormal cell to replicate to one billion cells. One billion cells produce a detectable lump that is one centimeter in size. This is the size of a lump that can be seen on a mammogram. This is not an early finding.
Every woman should know her risk for breast cancer. With proper risk assessment that includes different testing modalities, the patient is able to determine her risk factors and develop an action plan on how to improve the breast tissue or even reverse the existing trend. The current screening strategy is not enough to protect women from breast cancer. Medical infrared imaging should be added to every woman’s regular breast health care.
Dr. Alex Mostovoy
