Thermography vs. Mammography--I choose Thermography!

Let's compare thermography and mammography in relation to detecting breast cancer:

 

Neither thermography nor mammography can diagnose breast cancer--only a biopsy can do that--but they are both used as early detection methods.

 

Thermography is a completely safe, non-invasive procedure using infrared sensors to produce a thermal image of the body; biochemical processes (those indicating cancerous activity) produce heat which appears clearly on the thermograph.  Mammography uses ionizing radiation, which increases one's risk of future cancer, and compression which can spread cancer cells. 

 

Thermography is unaffected by hormone use or large, dense, or fibrocystic breasts, all of which can cause reading difficulties for mammography.

 

Thermography can detect forming breast cancers 10 years before mammography would detect them, and is often the first sign that a problem may be developing. 

 

Thermography can detect inflammatory breast cancer which is undetectable by mammography.

 

An abnormal thermograph is the single most important marker of high risk for developing breast cancer--it is 10 times more significant than a family history of breast cancer, and a persistent abnormal scan carries a 22x higher risk of future breast cancer.

 

Thermography has an average 90% sensitivity in all age groups (10% of cancers may go undetected); mammography has an 80% average sensitivity in women ages 50+, but the sensitivity decreases in younger women.

 

When used as part of a multimodal approach (clinical examination + mammography + thermography) 95% of early stage cancers will be detected.

 

Based on extensive clinical trials, thermography significantly augments the long-term survival rates of its recipients by as much as 61%.

 

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Based on the facts above, any woman desiring routine early breast cancer screening, ESPECIALLY younger women, should go with thermography first.  Then if there are suspicious areas, get an ultrasound, and only after that, if indicated, get a mammogram.  It is unconscionable to me that doctors and breast cancer/medical organizations still recommend regular mammograms when there is a completely safe and significantly more accurate alternative available!  The technology has been around since the 1950s, and it was approved by the FDA in the 1980s.

 

I am due for my six month re-evaluation next month, and I plan to get a thermograph done which I will show to my oncologist when I meet with him.  If needed, I will have another ultrasound, not a mammogram.  Since we don't know if I have cancer in my lymph nodes, I am very interested to see what the thermograph shows.  It should show any areas of concern, including the lymph nodes.  According to my oncologist, he will only order further scans like an MRI if I develop symptoms or my blood work indicates that cancer is growing.  I think it would be very beneficial to know about any suspicious areas before the cancer has grown to the point where it is causing physical symptoms!  On the other hand, if the scan shows a bunch of suspicious areas, that would be scary.  I guess I'm prepared to deal with that since my pathology wasn't the best and I'm betting that surgery did not eliminate every cancer cell from my body.

Note:  I did find an article in which the FDA warns that thermography should not be used to replace mammography.  I'm not surprised since I wouldn't trust the FDA as far as I could throw it, and mammograms are one of the cash cows of the cancer industry, so they're not going to throw them over easily.