Comparative Evaluation of Infrared Thermography and Mammography in the Detection of Breast Cancer

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of infrared thermography for detecting breast carcinoma and to compare its performance with that of standard mammography. A secondary objective was to assess the potential role of thermography as a supplementary, non-invasive, radiation-free imaging modality, particularly in settings with limited access to conventional breast imaging.

A diagnostic comparison study was conducted over 18 months at JSS Hospitals, Mysuru, involving 30 female patients aged 20-60 years with breast tumors. All participants underwent infrared thermography, mammography, and histopathological analysis. Thermograms showing temperature variations of ≥3°C were considered malignant. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 28 (Released 2021; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York), and diagnostic accuracy was assessed based on sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV), with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.

Of the 34 breast lesions evaluated, 24 (70.6%) were malignant and 10 (29.4%) were benign. On mammography, positive findings were observed in 23 (95.8%) malignant cases and one (10%) benign case. Infrared thermography demonstrated no thermal change in all benign and six (25%) malignant cases. Mammography detected 23 of 24 malignant lesions, yielding an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.967 (p < 0.05). Infrared thermography detected 18 of 24 malignant lesions, with an AUC of 0.875 (p < 0.001).

Infrared thermography demonstrated high specificity and a strong PPV; however, its low sensitivity limits its standalone diagnostic utility in breast cancer detection. Nevertheless, owing to its cost-effectiveness, portability, and radiation-free properties, thermography may serve as a valuable supplementary tool, particularly in low-resource settings and among younger women with dense breast tissue.