DEAR DR. GOTT: I would like to know if breast thermograms are as reliable as mammograms in detecting cancer.

DEAR READER: Thermography utilizes an infrared camera to produce images that reveal a pattern of heat and blood flow on or near the surfaces of the body. The process is painless, non-invasive and relatively inexpensive. Although the FDA gave safety approval in 2004, in June 2011 it issued a safety communication notifying consumers that thermography is not a replacement for screening mammography and that on its own is not an effective screening tool. Proponents feel the procedure can detect precancerous inflammatory changes and cancerous tumors up to 10 years earlier than routine mammography. Despite the accolades of some and the fact that the process has been used for almost 50 years, it has never been accepted as clinically useful by many medical professionals, [Read more...]