Does thermography top a mammogram?

Q:

My best friend started getting thermograms instead of mammograms. She said they’re better because they don’t use radiation and they show increased blood flow to an area where a tumor is forming, detecting cancer before a mammogram can. Should I change to thermograms?

A:

No! Numerous studies of mammograms have found that the benefits of detecting breast cancer in its early treatable stage far outweigh the risks of minimal exposure to radiation. Thermography, which has been around since the 1950s, uses a special camera to take a series of infrared images to detect higher temperatures in the tissues—signaling increased blood flow that could indicate a developing tumor. This doesn’t give off radiation, but there’s no strong evidence backing it for breast cancer detection. In fact, a large study found that 71% of those who had already developed breast cancer had a normal thermogram result. I recently met a new patient who had skipped regular mammograms before seeing me, and we discovered a tumor in her breast just weeks after she had received a normal thermography report.

The American Cancer Society, the American College of Radiology, the Society of Breast Imaging and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists do not recommend thermography for detecting breast cancer, and the FDA warns that it’s not a standalone diagnostic tool. For any patients who need supplemental screening, like those with a family history of breast cancer, I suggest methods like MRI or ultrasound. If you’re curious about thermography as an additional screening, talk to your provider since it typically costs $150 to $200 and is rarely covered by health insurance.