Isard H J, Sweitzer C J, Edelstein G R
Gershon-Cohen Breast Imaging Center, Department of Radiology, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19141.
Cancer. 1988 Aug 1;62(3):484-8. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19880801)62:3<484::aid-cncr2820620307>3.0.co;2-w.
A prognostic classification for thermographic staging of breast cancer has been applied to a cohort of 70 patients from 5040 screenees enrolled in the Albert Einstein Medical Center (AEMC) Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project (BCDDP). A diagnosis of breast cancer was established in each case before December 31, 1980. None of the patients have been lost to follow-up which extended from a minimum of 6 to a maximum of 13 years. Survival rates for those with favorable, equivocal, and poor thermographic factors are compared with each other and with results in accordance with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) classification. As of December 31, 1986, there have been 22 (31.4%) deaths, all attributed to breast cancer. The thermographic scoring system clearly shows shorter survival for patients with poor thermographic prognostic factors, 30% surviving at 5 years and only 20% at 10 years compared with overall survival of 80% at 5 years and 70% at 10 years.
