Modalities in breast cancer detection: Xeroradiography, mammography, thermography, and mammometry

The advantages and limitations of 4 methods of detecting breast cancer are presented. Mammography, the oldest and most widely used, detects cancer with an accuracy of some 90 percent if the radiologist is skilled in breast radiography. Xeroradiography is a newer method and not widely used because of technical difficulties, although possibly it has some advantages over mammography. It affords a unique image of the entire breast including the skin in a single exposure. Differing densities are shown with edge-like sharpness in a bas-relief effect. Thermograph provides a pictorial map of mammary heat. It is an excellent adjunct to mammography, since more than 90 percent of breast cancers can be detected by a superjacent cutaneous thermographic “hot spot.” “Hot spots” of themselves are not diagnostic, however, since they are also found in normal and dysplastic breasts. Mammometry is a new method of registering breast temperatures by affixing small skin-contact thermometers to the breasts. This method shows promise, but not enough data have been collected to date to judge its specificity and sensitivity.