Statement on Use of Thermography to Detect Breast Cancer

Objectives

BreastScreen Australia’s National Advisory Committee advises against thermography for early breast-cancer detection because current scientific evidence does not show that it enables early detection or reduces mortality.[1]The recommended detection examination is mammography, identified as the only method with objective and randomised clinical-trial support for breast-cancer screening and diagnosis.[2]

• Discourage the use of thermography as an early breast-cancer detection method.[1]
• Support mammography for screening and diagnosis on the basis of available clinical-trial evidence.[2]

Implementation

Apply an evidence-based approach that excludes contact thermography and telethermography, also called digital thermography, from early breast-cancer detection practice.[1]Prefer mammography because thermography may detect tumours only when they are several centimetres in diameter, while screening mammography can identify smaller cancers.[1]

• Assess detection methods according to evidence of early detection and mortality reduction; reviews cited found no current scientific support for thermography on these measures.[1][2]
• Use objective and randomised clinical-trial evidence to guide screening and diagnostic recommendations.[2]
• Recognise support for mammography and non-support for thermography from Cancer Australia, the Royal College of Radiologists of Australia and New Zealand, the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society, Cancer Research UK, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration and Medicare Australia.[1]
• Note that the Australian Medical Association had no position on thermography at the time referenced.[1]
• Establish no specified formal monitoring framework, reporting schedule, surveillance system, performance indicators, budget, funding source or resource plan, as these are not covered.[1][2]

Monitoring & Evaluation

Thermography is assessed against evidence of its ability to detect breast cancer early and reduce mortality; the available reviews identified no current scientific support for either outcome.[1][2]Recommendations for breast-cancer screening and diagnosis are grounded in objective and randomised clinical-trial evidence, which supports mammography rather than thermography.[2]

• Use evidence of early detection and mortality reduction as the principal criteria for assessing thermography.[1][2]
• Base screening and diagnostic recommendations on objective and randomised clinical-trial evidence.[2]
• Recognise that no formal monitoring framework, reporting schedule, surveillance system, performance indicators or accountability arrangements are specified.[1][2]

Costing & Financing

The document does not specify costs, budgets, funding sources, resource requirements, funding gaps, resource-mobilisation mechanisms or economic assumptions.[1][2]