A Better Way to Detect Breast Cancer?

Santa Monica (myFOXla.com) - Some women are looking away from mammograms to another method of breast cancer screening called "thermography."

Doctors are using heat instead of x-rays to look for clues about cancer risk.

>> You can watch Christine Devine's report in the video player.

Thermographic cameras measure temperature. Some airports use them to screen travelers for fevers associated with flu and tuberculosis, but they've also been used quietly to screen for precursors to breast cancer for more than 30 years.

The cameras pick up on new blood vessels associated with breast tumors because they give off specific heat patterns.

If a scan looks suspicious, the patient can then follow up with a mammogram or MRI to decrease overall cancer risk.

In fact, women at high risk are often enouraged to use multiple screening methods.

No major medical organization endorses thermograms for breast cancer screening. The American Medical Association, Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American College Of Radiology all consider thermograms "investigational."

Thermography costs about $300, and is not currently covered by insurance.

To learn more, visit Dr. Lauren Swerdloff's website here .

To read a discussion of thermography by breast cancer patients, go here .