Editor:
In the May 4 edition of Coast Reporter, an advertisement offered thermography as an alternative to mammograms for breast cancer detection.
Women who may be interested in this should be aware that this technique cannot be used for this purpose. No scientific, medical or cancer agency in the world endorses the use of thermography as a stand-alone screening technique, though it is widely promoted by alternative health practitioners.
Though it is scientifically plausible, when it was first studied over 30 years ago, thermography failed in comparison to mammograms and was abandoned.
While the technology has improved, it has never been demonstrated to be a reliable method of detecting breast cancer at all, never mind at an "earlier stage" than mammograms. There are no large randomized trials comparing it directly with mammography, and there aren't even any national standards for interpreting thermogram results. It is useless at localizing tumours, which is a critical piece of information for cancer doctors or surgeons to have.
Women who have an anomaly detected by these travelling thermography machines will still need to see a physician for an exam and/or have a mammogram to confirm the findings. Mammograms are not perfect, but they are at least a proven and validated technique.
Tim McDowell
MD, Sechelt
