Thermography in breast carcinoma: results of a blind reading trial

This paper presents the results of a blind reading trial of thermographic detection of breast cancer. Thermograms from women with no known breast disease, those with benign disease and those with carcinoma have been analysed using a previously described method for examination and assessment. Each record was read blind by three observers and the resulting scores compared for the three groups of women. It was found that, using the scoring system devised, 69 per cent of carcinomas gave scores in the range considered to indicate a high risk of breast disease but that 33 per cent of the scores for the normals also fell into this range. No differentiation between benign and malignant groups could be achieved. A significant number of the carcinomas were also found to show few detectable signs on thermography, resulting in an appreciable false negative rate.