Impact of Thermogram and Mammogram as a Early Diagnostic Tool for Breast Cancer

Abstract

Metastatic cancer has the same name and the same type of cancer cells as the original, or primary, cancer. In 2018, 1, 62,468 new cases and 87,090 deaths were reported for breast cancer in India. 25 years back, out of every 100 breast cancer patients, 2% were in 20 to 30 years age group, 7% were in 30 to 40 and so on. 69% of the patients were above 50 years of age. Presently, 4% are in 20 to 30 yrs age group, 16% are in 30 to 40, 28% are in 40 to 50 age group. So, almost 48% patients are below 50. Breast self-examination (BSE) and clinical breast examination (CBE) are used to screen for breast cancer. CBE has a sensitivity of 57.14% and a specificity of 97.11%. Although it does not permit one to determine malignancy with assurance, it is useful for detecting suspicious breast lesions. Despite these results and those from similar studies, some believe that CBE and BSE should still be used, especially for women younger than 40 years as well as for those who do not undergo routine mammography. Thermal images are actually visual displays of the amount of infrared energy emitted, transmitted, and reflected by an object. Because there are multiple sources of the infrared energy, it is difficult to get an accurate temperature of an object using this method. The results from women of all ages that used hormone replacement therapy yielded a mammographic specificity of about 91.7%. Mammography is less sensitive in women with radio graphically dense breasts Sensitivity values range from 62.9% in extremely dense-breasted women to 87% in extremely fatty-breasted women, whereas specificity values ranged from 89.1% to 96.9%, respectively. Public health data indicate that the global burden of breast cancer in women, measured by incidence, mortality, and economic costs, is substantial and on the increase. Worldwide, it is estimated that more than one million women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, and more than 410,000 will die from the disease. Although it is not certain which women have been affected, the imbalance suggests that there is substantial over diagnosis, accounting for nearly a third of all newly diagnosed breast cancers, and that screening is having, at best, only a small effect on the rate of death from breast cancer.