The contribution of currently available high resolution infra-red imaging to the detection of stage I and II breast cancer

By the late sixties, combined studies proposed that both the sensitivity and specificity of infrared imaging of the breast was approximately 85%. This data justified its introduction into the Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project. The initial enthusiasm for this technique rapidly waned in North America. The Ville Marie Breast Center has continued to use this technique as a component of our multi-modality imaging strategy in the detection of breast cancer. The recent acquisition of high resolution digital infrared technology along with the development of a standard protocol for image production and interpretation by qualified physicians has given us an opportunity to better assess its complementary role to clinical exam and mammography. In a recent series of early breast cancer patients, the combined use of both infrared imaging and mammography was particularly useful in the patients in whom mammography, though done in a fully accredited center, was uninformative. Adding infrared imaging to mammography increased the detection rate. When infrared imaging benefits from the same quality control recently imposed on mammography, it constitutes a safe and practical imaging modality that in some cases promoted an earlier detection of breast cancer than did mammography.