How Does Breast Thermography Compare to a Mammogram?
Both are screening tests that do not specifically diagnose breast cancer, but screen for changes in local tissues due to various causes. Both are superior to clinical or self-examination for detecting early pathological changes. Mammography detects anatomical changes and is more precise than thermograms in identifying the exact location of a lesion, while thermography detects physiological changes that occur much earlier than anatomical changes. Thermography has been shown to detect the pre-cancerous state of breast tissue up to 10 years before breast cancer is identified by other methods, and a positive thermographic image represents the highest known risk factor for the future development of breast cancer, 10 times more significant than any family history of the disease. Compared with mammography, 7 out of 10 times infrared imaging is the first alarm that something is altering on a cellular basis in the breast.
Both are screening tests that do not specifically diagnose breast cancer, but screen for changes in local tissues due to various causes. Both are superior to clinical or self-examination for detecting early pathological changes. Mammography detects anatomical changes and is more precise than Breast Thermography in identifying the exact location of a lesion. Thermography detects thermal signs of metabolic or physiological changes associated with cancerous tumors. One of the most important changes is angiogenesis, or new blood vessel formation. Angiogenesis is one of the processes necessary to sustain the growth of a tumor. Breast thermography may be the first signal that such a possibility is developing.
