[Contact thermography as a prognostic indicator of breast cancer]

Ninety-seven primary, operable cancer patients were followed after surgery with a median follow-up of 44 months. Thermograms were classified into 3 categories: normal, equivocal and abnormal. There has been no recurrence in patients with normal thermographic pattern. Patients with abnormal thermographic pattern showed poor prognosis: 88% survival and 80% recurrence-free survival rate at 3 years. Normal thermographic pattern favored the survival curves and recurrence-free survival curves, even if stratified by nodal states. There seems to be no correlation between thermographic patterns and sites of recurrence, but patients with abnormal thermographic patterns tend to have recurrences at more than one site.