DITI is utilized as a risk assessment tool by evaluating health. DITI contributes information about functional (physiological) abnormalities as well as can identify the location of suspicious thermal findings that may be outside the ability of other tests. There is no comparison or competition between mammogram and DITI. When used together, detection rates improve an additional 10%.

This patient was age 37 when her first baseline thermogram showed a slight hyperthermic asymmetry in the upper right breast. The follow-up study showed the pattern had become more defined; clinical correlation did not find anything remarkable. A repeat exam was performed 3 months later and significant changes were seen. Mammography was performed and mammographic findings were inconclusive. Patient was told to repeat a mammogram in 6 months. At 6 months significant changes were still evident and the hyperthermic asymmetry (temperature differentials) had increased. Immediate investigation was recommended despite a scheduled mammogram in 6 months, and at the patients insistence a repeat mammogram was performed which clearly showed a small calcification (1 mm) at 1 o’clock. Within one week a lumpectomy had been performed with good margins and the pathology confirmed a malignant carcinoma (DCIS). This patient has now had stable thermograms for the last 2 years and is expected to remain healthy.

Screening thermography has the opportunity to detect changes at any stage in the development from the first year through to when a tumor is dense enough to be seen with mammography. This early detection of change can lead to earlier diagnosis and better treatment options as well as the opportunity for patients and their healthcare practitioners to intervene at an early stage with preventative treatment.

Source: Buchanan JB, et al. Tumor growth, doubling times, and inability of the radiologist to diagnose certain cancers. Radiol Clin N Am. 1983;21:115-26