An evaluation of thermography in the detection of breast cancer.A cooperative pilot study

Abstract

A collaborative study of 3,518 patients in several medical centers was designed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of thermography as compared to mammographic and clinical examinations. For 862 patients who had breast surgery or a biopsy, the sensitivity and specificity was 0.823 and 0.784 respectively for physical examinations, 0.721 and 0.798 for thermographic reading with clinical data, and 0.703 and 0.807 for mammography. Of additional interest was the observation that each of the procedures (physical examination, mammography, and thermography) selects different subgroups of cases. The results indicate that further evaluation of thermography as a screening technique for breast cancer is warranted. Such evaluation should be in the form of a controlled clinical trial.

Analysis of the diagnostic performance in breast cancer screening by relative operating characteristics

“…Moreover, it is questionable as to whether this category should be located between Grades 3 and 4 or between Grades 2 and 3, as mammographic diagnosis is markedly more sensitive than physical examination. Accordingly, and in conjunction with Lilienfeld et al, 3 this category was included in Grade 4 depending on one diagnostic modality only.…”